


Just Another Day in Paradise

by hawaiigal52



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: F/M, Mystery/Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 10:28:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 110,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/722025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawaiigal52/pseuds/hawaiigal52
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Published: 09-29-12, Updated: 12-26-12<br/>Chapters: 36, Words: 91,112</p><p>Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Sun Even Sets in Paradise</p><p>Chapter One: The Sun Even Sets in Paradise<br/>A/N: Okay, no hints now, because you guys are all way too smart and I always end up being my own spoiler. Just remember, this is as usual for me, a Detty romance. That's all I'm saying about the basic plot! You'll just have to figure things out as we go here.<br/>Having had the extreme privilege to live in the most beautiful state in the US (Hawaii, of course, bradahs and sistahs!), I have been dying to think of a way to share some of its beauty with my fellow detty-lovers. So, here it is, folks, my tribute to my beautiful Kama aina! As much as I love where I am now, I still miss it terribly! Hope you enjoy the luau….alo-HA!<br/>________________________________________</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sun Even Sets in Paradise  (Chs 1-5)

Title: Just Another Day in Paradise  
Category: TV Shows » Ugly Betty  
Author: Betty the Bonita  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M  
Genre: Romance/Suspense  
Published: 09-29-12, Updated: 12-26-12  
Chapters: 36, Words: 91,112  
________________________________________  
Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Sun Even Sets in Paradise

 

"Are you sure? You can't be…that can't be right. Hilda, I…I'll be right there."  
Daniel hung up the phone and fell to the ground. He felt like his whole world just stopped. Betty-gone? It had to be some crazy mistake. It just couldn't be. He couldn't make his mind believe it. He just lay there for what seemed like hours, on the floor in a heap. But then, he wiped his eyes and suddenly sprang into action.  
He knew in his heart Betty was alive and he was going to find her. He called the Meade pilot and told him he needed to go to Hawaii-ASAP!  
Betty had thought the best possible place to take Hilda for her bridal shower had to be Hawaii, so when Mode had a conference there on cruise fashions that coincided with the opening of the latest Disney resort at what used to be KoOlina, in Kopelei, Hawaii, close to Honolulu, Betty had sweet talked Daniel into letting her be the one to write the story, and she brought Hilda with her. Amanda, of course, jumped on the band wagon, promising to be Betty's 'assistant', which didn't really translate to her doing anything other than coming along for the ride, of course.  
The girls had all been having a wonderful time, going to luaus on the beach, flirting with handsome surfers, and just letting loose, in a free, fun girls' week. Amanda and Hilda were drinking the pineapple Mai Tais a little freely one evening, their last before they were to go home. Betty had only had one drink, and was going to bed early to gather her notes for her story.  
That was the last either Hilda or Amanda heard from her. They went to her room the next morning when they were unable to reach her cell phone and her room was empty. Her bed hadn't been slept in. There was no sign that she had ever made it back there after leaving the other girls, in fact.  
After calling in the local police, the two women were beside themselves. Amanda was yelling at them, 'Check the ocean, make sure she didn't get eaten by jaws or something, maybe! Or, look in all the swimming pools. Hilda, can Betty even swim?"  
"Yes, Amanda, she can swim. And I know she wouldn't have gone out in the ocean at night, either. So, she didn't get eaten by any shark. Stop saying that kind of stuff. She just…must have gotten lost or something. Or maybe she fell asleep. She was so tired. She worked so hard to make this the best bridal shower ever for me and she was working, too. She is the best sister ever, and what are you all doing just standing around here, go find her! My sister is missing for God's sake! Don't you have that Hawaii Five-Oh thing here where they solve all the crimes? Get that Dann-o guy here or whatever and find MY SISTER!" She broke down.  
The female police officer tried to comfort her, "We're doing everything we can to locate your sister, Miss. We just need to get all the information we can on her. You said you've contacted other members of your family? Are you free to stay on the island for a while, while we conduct our investigation?"  
Amanda was getting frustrated, too, "Of course we are! We aren't leaving without Betty! She has to be here, somewhere. I saw this place on a map, this is a tiny little island, Betty's big enough, you should be able to find her on some police heat seeking radar or something shouldn't you?"  
The officers looked at one another, wondering just how dumb some of these crazy tourists were sometimes. An older, kindly officer nodded, as he made notes, looking around the room, "Well, no worries, sistah, we gonna find your friend, okay? She didn't come here last night. You think maybe she find some cute local brah she how you kids say now days, hook up with?" he shook his 'shaka' hand at them, and smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow.  
Hilda and Amanda looked at one another, somewhat hopefully for a moment, but then Amanda frowned, "Betty? Oh, God, she must be DEAD!"  
"Amanda! Don't say that about my sister, okay? She might have met a guy last night and gone home with him. Maybe they're still busy and she…oh, God, even I don't believe it!"  
Amanda tried to rally hope again, "But, Hilda, now that she got her braces off, she's really not totally hideous anymore. Except for those glasses of hers. I don't know. Are there any ugly guys in Hawaii? I've only really noticed the hot, built surfer guys. But, maybe somebody reads books and is a nerd here, right?"  
She looked at the police, hopefully, but they shook their heads, frowning, "Not so much nerds here. Some, maybe. But sistah girl not sound like the type wanna go off with a brah on the first date, eh?"  
Hilda and Amanda looked at one another and sadly shook their heads, "No." They both agreed, that didn't sound like the Betty they knew whatsoever.  
After an hour or more of questioning, the police took the information they had along with the latest picture of Betty and left the girls. The hotel manager came up and offered for them to be able to continue staying in the hotel while the investigation was ongoing and offered their meals to be brought up.  
"Our staff here is very sorry for your friend. We hope you find her soon, ladies. Please feel free to stay while the police are searching for her. And if there is anything we can do to make things easier for you, don't hesitate to ask."  
They thanked him for his kindness and told him that members of Betty's family and her friend were on their way there to help look for her, as well. "We'll be happy to accommodate them, too. We are all praying for your friend."  
Hilda looked at the man, "Sir, I noticed you have a lot of homeless people here. Are they…dangerous? I know Betty's a sweet, trusting girl. I'm just saying. I mean, do you think any of them would hurt her?"  
He looked at Hilda sadly, "It's hard to say. Normally, no. We have a large homeless population here because of our great weather, of course. But most of the people are just trying to survive. Some of them can't afford the high prices for rent here. Many lost jobs, and hope their homelessness is just temporary.  
Many of our homeless keep getting pushed by the tourism board further towards the leeward side of the island, Nanakuli, Waianaie, and Makaha, mostly. It's funny, but that is a beautiful area, and lots of people pay milliions to build their homes there, but the homeless have the same view!  
Most of them are good people, just like you and me. Lots of them have families, they send their kids to school, they look for jobs, some even have jobs, they just don't get paid enough to pay the high prices of rents here. Most people here have at least two jobs just to put a roof over their heads. Paradise may be beautiful, but it definitely isn't free.  
Mostly, Hawaii is very safe. I grew up here, on Oahu, and I've only been to the mainland a few times a year for conferences. But I was overwhelmed with all the people and the crime. In places like New York, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia. This is a much friendlier place. But, just like you, we have problems with drugs here. Particularly Meth. If someone, homeless or not gets involved with that stuff, it drives them crazy. I've seen a lot of good people go bad getting mixed up with it. That's really the worst thing we got here. I'd try not to worry. The police here are very thorough. They are persistant and they know the locals. They know who to ask and who hears things. They'll find your sister and friend, ladies. I'm sure of it. Try to get some rest. We'll be praying for her safe return."  
"Thank you very much." Hilda said tearfully.  
They eventually returned to Betty's room, after walking aimlessly around the hotel and surrounding area, scouring for any signs of her. They had stopped to talk to locals and tourists alike, showing them her picture, but no one had seen her, other than a somewhat ragged-looking toothless man who claimed he had also seen Elvis.  
The two eventually drifted off to sleep, and although they slept for hours, they felt as if they had barely slept when they were awakened by a loud knock on the door. "Betty?"  
Amanda looked up, at Hilda, still somewhat sleep-dazed. "That's Daniel's voice. He's here. He'll find her, Hilda. He's got to."  
"Hilda? Baby, are you in there? It's me."  
"Bobby?" Hilda ran to the door, and saw Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler all standing there, holding small suitcases. "Hey, girls. I brought a search party. How are you doing?"  
Daniel was left literally holding his bag while the two tearful women each hugged their men. He walked over to the bed and touched the pillow. He saw Betty's laptop and picked it up, wandering out to the balcony, barely noticing the amazing view.  
He couldn't help thinking how happy Betty had sounded on her daily calls to him since she had arrived last weekend. She had been describing this very view he had before him. A view of Waikiki beach with Diamond Head in the distance. She was right, it did look just like a postcard. It was breathtakingly beautiful. But for Daniel, it held nothing but concern and the potential for heartbreak right now. He just prayed it wasn't the last thing his little Betty saw. She had to be alright, had to be somewhere safe. That's all there was to it. He wasn't going to accept anything less than a happy ending. This was paradise, right? Nothing bad could happen here.  
________________________________________  
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Sun Also Rises  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 2: The Sun Also Rises  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
________________________________________  
The search and rescue team from New York all scattered initially. Tyler and Amanda, Bobby and Hilda, had gone to each of the girls' hotel rooms to console each other over their shock. Daniel stayed behind, in Betty's room. He was looking through her laptop, searching for some kind of clues to her disappearance.  
He noticed several of her short notes to herself, regarding some of the fashions she had gone to see, thus justifying her trip there in the first place. She had struggled with describing the clothes, and he smiled to see she had started and stopped, and tried out various adjectives in her reports about the cruise line fashions, seeming to struggle with it.  
In another folder, he also found some of her notes, titled, "Just Another Day in Paradise", and it contained much more impassioned prose, with typical 'Betty-sounding' phrases and her questioning and lively pleas to her readers and herself over the costs of living in paradise, both economic and emotional.  
She had evidently interviewed several hotel staff members, along with some local shop owners, as well as a large number of the 'kama aina' as the locals referred to the permanent residents of Hawaii. She seemed to be trying to gather a fairly wide cross-section of wealthy, middle-class, and extremely poor (including homeless) in her interviews, some originally born here, and a few haoles (foreigners, ex-pats from the mainland who had moved here, often a derogatory term the locals used, although not specific to race). Asking them all the same few questions, "What was it that they liked most about living here, how did they deal with the high costs of living in paradise, and would they say it was worth the costs, both financial and otherwise."  
He also found a short file titled, 'pitch ideas to Daniel'. He almost laughed out loud, seeing her notes to herself, to make sure and bring him his coffee and Danish before she pitched it, then to compliment him, and make sure he looked like he was in a good mood, (preferably after he's had sex with some slutty girl he thinks he likes), and to be sure to throw in some veiled reference to one of the times when she had 'bailed' him out of his doing something stupid in the past.  
He couldn't believe Betty was so smart, so devious, so calculating about manipulating him into getting what she wanted. It was adorable, he thought. Just like her. She was determined to write about things she wanted to really write about, and she did whatever she had to in order to achieve that goal. She tolerated writing about fashions she didn't care one iota about in order to make a difference, to touch people with the things she did care about.  
He shut down her computer to save the battery, not seeing the power cord for it immediately, and sighed, looking down at the beach, at families, and couples, enjoying their vacations, surfers and swimmers in their element, getting their adrenaline high from the waves, and people just relaxing, and de-stressing from their busy lives on the mainland, an ocean away from the rat race.  
He felt like he was a world away from Manhattan. Not only geographically, but emotionally, spiritually. He thought briefly of Thailand, and his quest to move on from Molly's death by scattering (at least a portion) of her ashes there. It hadn't been as satisfying as he would have liked.  
He hadn't really felt connected to Molly like he hoped going to Thailand would have made him. But then again, their time together had been all too brief. There was so much about his wife he never got to know before she was gone, taken from him forever.  
He shook himself from such thoughts. This was a dangerous rode his mind was starting to wander down now, comparing Betty's disappearance to his wife's death. First, and foremost, Betty was not dead. She was alive and possibly injured, or ill, maybe even in serious danger, somewhere on this island. That made Daniel's mind trigger a thought. If she had left the island, the police would surely know about it, right? He ran down to the lobby, to speak to the hotel manager.  
After a brief wait, he was ushered into Mr. Pienna's office. The hotel general manager was a fairly short man, of Japanese descent, with salt and pepper hair, and kind eyes. He wore the 'Hawaiian style' shirt, untucked, and khakis, yet seemed every bit as capable as any New York Armani-clad lawyer to cut to the chase, in a business situation, should the need arise.  
He seemed wise beyond his chronological age, which Daniel judged to be late forties, possibly even early fifties, yet the sun had not dimmed the man's vitality or strength of character. He seemed to know and somehow even understand Daniel's interest in finding out information about one of his guests' strange and sudden disappearance from his hotel and took the matter very seriously. Daniel could tell from his manner, the man bore a deep sense of responsibility for the welfare of his guests.  
"I understand you were Miss Suarez's employer, Mr. Meade. May I say, myself, and my entire staff wishes to cooperate with the local authorities or any additional law enforcement or detectives you decide to bring in until she is located and returned safely to her family. We are very sorry for this terrible thing to have happened while in our hotel. I have copies of the security footage that is believed to be the last sighting of Miss Suarez before she left the hotel grounds.  
You are welcome to have a copy to keep and view for yourself, if you think it might help in any way. The Honolulu Police have already been given a copy of course. If you like, I can make some calls for you and try to obtain additional Hawaii DOT footage around that same time frame to look for signs of foul play."  
Daniel looked at the man, somewhat curiously at the way he said, 'foul play', "Mr. Pienna, do you think the police suspect that? Foul play? Like, she was kidnapped or…hurt or something? Mugged, maybe? What do you think happened? Honestly."  
Daniel leaned forward, somewhat hesitantly, almost afraid to hear the man's honest assessment, for fear it might be the worst possible scenario he suspected. The man looked kindly at Daniel, "Are you sure you want to know what I honestly believe?"  
"Yes."  
The man looked at Daniel with deep empathy, as if he could sense his pain and fear, "I'm afraid she may have been taken against her will. Somewhere, perhaps off the island. I know I heard one of the police detectives calling to try and get security footage at the airport to see if anyone matching Miss Suarez's description was seen leaving the island, either back to the mainland or to one of the other islands. I would talk to them. Here, I have the detective in charge's card, see if he can tell you anything. I have been asking some of my staff to keep their ears and eyes open to anything suspicious, anyone not with your group asking about the young lady recently, or that they saw hanging around her, watching her. I know she was talking to a lot of people. She is a reporter for your magazine back in New York?"  
Daniel smiled, "Actually, I do run a magazine, but Betty was…is an editor, not a reporter, really. She works with me at Mode magazine."  
The man looked at him blankly, so Daniel clarified, "It's a…fashion magazine for women. You know, like Vogue?" he hated having to mention his main competition. But, hey, if it helped the guy make the association, whatever. He saw recognition, "Oh, of course. I believe my wife actually subscribes to that magazine. I thought it sounded vaguely familiar. Actually, she did ask for transportation to the leeward side of the island when she first arrived, to go to the new Disney resort area, for a cruise line fashion show there. I didn't make the connection, really. They also have a great luau there, at the old KoOlina Resort, that Disney took over, called Paradise Cove. It's one of the more authentic luaus on Oahu, so I just assumed she was going to the luau. Frankly, I was surprised she wanted to see the fashion show.  
She didn't seem to be the type to be into that kind of thing. She seemed so earnest, so curious about the people here. She really seemed like a news reporter or a writer to me. I suppose you can never tell about people sometimes. It's an occupational hazard, I guess for me, to think I can tell people's passion in life in how they act while they're here at my hotel."  
Daniel gave the man a half-smile, "I suppose it would be hard not to in your line of work. Betty wanted uh…wants to be a writer, she has a blog where she writes about the things she is passionate about, and you're right, it isn't fashion. That's just sort of something she fell into really. I don't know why she still works at Mode, honestly. I half-way expected her to have moved on to something more substantial by now.  
She did actually think she had a job at The New York Review at one point in her career, but she was robbed of it by her own mentor, who kind of double-crossed her just to take the job away from her. I think that really bothered her sense of morality that someone she trusted would do that to her."  
"I see. It is always a sad part of one's education to learn someone we held up in high esteem makes poor choices, too. It is a hard lesson for us to learn, and sometimes causes us great pain, and makes us doubt everything we once valued, makes us question things we may have believed in without question before."  
Daniel nodded. "You're right. She did have a lot of trouble understanding Jodie's reasoning for betraying her, I think. I'd like to see that video you mentioned, Mr. Pienna. And I do want to know about any other street shots from the traffic cameras you suggested, plus, I definitely want the detective in charge's contact number. Where is the police station?"  
"I'll take you there now, if you like, Mr. Meade. I have been checking in with Captain Sukki every few hours since this happened. I think he is perhaps annoyed with me bothering him so often. Now, you can be the one to annoy him." He waited while Daniel gathered the videos and other information he had been given. "I'll be happy to introduce you. I take it you and Miss Suarez were not just employer and employee, but also…uh good friends?"  
Daniel looked at the man as he turned back to see his expression. "Yes. Betty and I ARE very good friends. Best friends. She is the kindest person I know. And I intend to bother or annoy this Captain Sukki or whoever it takes until I get her back safely."  
The hotel manager smiled, as he turned back around, leading the way to his car. "I'm glad Miss Suarez has such a powerful friend as you, Mr. Meade. Perhaps that will make all the difference here in finding her. Unfortunately, your association with her may also be a…"  
Daniel's mind went racing at the man's hesitation, he pulled his arm, to stop him and looked into his eyes, "Do you think someone could have kidnapped Betty to try and get me to pay a ransom? Is that what you're getting at, Mr. Pienna?"  
The man looked at Daniel with sympathy, but shrugged, "It's certainly a possibility. Anyone who knows how much you care for her welfare might decide she was therefore a target and see if you are willing to pay for her safe return. If that is suspected, you can be sure the FBI will become involved immediately, though, Mr. Meade. I assume you haven't received any emails or messages from anyone that could be construed as a ransom?"  
"No, of course not. Betty's sister is the one who called me. Her nephew and especially her dad don't even know she's missing yet. He has a heart condition, and we didn't want to totally freak him out until we knew exactly what we were dealing with here. Her nephew might start to get suspicious soon, though if his mom doesn't return when she's supposed to tomorrow. We may have to either bring him here or at least let him in on it. I was thinking, I might have my mom go get him."  
"How old is her nephew? Are they close?"  
Daniel nodded, "Extremely close. Justin and his mom grew up in the same house with Betty and her father. She lost her mom to cancer when she was a teenager. Justin's sixteen now. Betty's been like a second mom to him. She helped his mom raise him. His dad wasn't in the picture for a long time, then he and Hilda re-connected for a while, and planned to marry, then he got shot and killed during a robbery. Justin's had it rough, but he's a fantastic kid. He would be devastated if anything were to happen to Betty."  
After they got into the manager's car, Daniel put his head in his hands, "God, this is a total nightmare. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and I'll be back in New York, and Betty will be fine. I can't believe this is happening, you know? I don't know if it's the jet-lag or shock or both, but I feel so…disoriented."  
The man put his hand on Daniel's shoulder to steady him, "Are you alright, Mr. Meade? Do you need medical attention? We can go by the hospital, and get you checked out. Have you had any water? You know a lot of times jet-lag is partially dehydration."  
"I know. I…yeah. I had some water, I think. I know I had a cup of coffee. It was really strong. It kind of gave me a headache."  
"That's our Kono coffee. Comes from the Big Island. It can be strong if you're not used to it, I suppose. Come on, I'm going to take you to get a plate lunch. You need food and water, first. Then, we'll take you to the police station. I know the best local food. What we here in the islands call ono grinds."  
"Ono what? What does that mean? Sounds like Yoko Ono or something. Is it Hawaiian?"  
He laughed, "No. It's pidgin, I guess. It just means good food. Even Obama likes his plate lunches when he's here. I don't need you passing out on me. I have a feeling you are going to be the one who is willing to do whatever it takes to get your 'Betty' back."  
Daniel nodded weakly, feeling as if he were going to pass out, "You got that right."  
________________________________________  
Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Islands Across the Sea  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 3: Islands Across the Sea  
Disclaimer: I Don't own Ugly Betty!  
________________________________________  
Daniel looked across the deserted beach and squinted, wishing he had remembered to pack his Gucci sunglasses in his haste to get on the plane and find Betty as soon as possible. He must be hallucinating, because he could swear he saw her, running towards him as fast as her short legs would take her. But it was definitely her. God, she looked great! "Betty? It's really you? Where were you? I was so worried!"  
"Daniel! You came for me! I knew you would. What took you so long?" She ran towards him, arms outstretched and gave him one of her usual great hugs. Then as she pulled away slightly, she looked at him, as she first rested her forehead against his, then gave him a very shy smile, "I missed you, Daniel. So much. I really need you to know just how much I…want you."  
"You…huh? You do?" He held her by her waist, somewhat breathless at their closeness, at how sexy she looked after not having seen her for over a week now. Wait, did he say-sexy, Betty? His Betty?  
He looked at her, as he held her tightly. She was wearing a bright blue bikini, with a long, silk Hawaiian print sarong tied loosely around her hips, showing off her tiny waist and accenting just how much she had been hiding cleavage-wise all these years, with her halter-style bikini top practically spilling over. Her long black hair was loose and flowing on her bare shoulders. He gasped, "Uh, wow! You look-different, Betty. Where are your glasses? I um…like the flower. You're hair looks nice like that."  
He knew he was babbling, but Damn! How did she get so gorgeous? He put his hand up to her hair, then cupped the side of her face, and pulled her close. "You're so beautiful, Betty. When did that happen, huh? When did you get all beautiful and sexy on me? I missed it! You were right there, right beside me and I didn't even notice you. Not really. Not like I should have. Can you forgive me?"  
She smiled and nodded, then started to sway her hips, as an extremely large Hawaiian man sitting under a tree on a stump that Daniel somehow hadn't noticed before began playing the ukulele. Betty did an excellent hula dance for him, very sensual. He was finding it hard just to watch her. Finally, he took both her hands in his, "Betty, I can't stand it anymore. I want you, too. Let's …"  
"Daniel? Daniel! What the hell are you mumbling? Are you okay? The hotel manager tried to feed and water you, but he said if you were still unresponsive, we should call 911 or something. Are you feeling any better after you know...throwing up? I know, the jet-lag is pretty killer. Is that all it is?"  
Hilda stood over Daniel, shaking his arm. He looked startled, "Oh, Hilda. It's you. I…I, sorry. I must have dozed off or something. Yeah, I'm pretty beat. I tried to sleep on the flight here, but really couldn't. How long was I out?"  
"A few hours."  
"A few hours? What's the news on Betty? Have we gotten any calls yet? How about a ransom or something?"  
"Ransom? You think she's been kidnapped?"  
He shrugged, checking his cell phone for texts, or emails, just in case, "It's a possibility. Have the police been here or called or anything?"  
Hilda shook her head, "No. I haven't heard a word. That nice manager's called a few times to check on you. He said he thought you were gonna hurl when you saw the glass noodles, cause you thought they were eels or something gross." She giggled, slightly, reminding him of Betty's giggle, which made him remember his very nice dream, which made him more than a little uncomfortable, with everyone in his room right now.  
"Hey, uh, I think I'm going to try and get at least another hour nap in, then let's all go to the police station. The hotel guy was on his way to take me there, when I got woozy before. Sound good, everybody?"  
They all nodded, mumbling, considering they were all dead-tired and numb, as well. Daniel tried to rally his troops, "Guys! Cheer up, it's Betty! Come on! You know we're gonna find her! She's here, somewhere. She's going to be fine, right?"  
They smiled and nodded, and tried to sound more positive. "Sure! Yeah, of course. It's Betty. She'll be okay."  
He let out a sigh of frustration as he let his head hit the pillow. What the hell, he thought? Now he was having sex fantasies about his best friend? Since when? He couldn't help wondering if she really looked as hot as he had seen her in his dream, under all those layers of crazy clothes she always had on. There were a few times when he got to see a little more of her that made him wonder what he and the rest of the world were not allowed to see.  
Pull it together, Meade, he told himself! This isn't the time for you to be getting all worked up, thinking about sex, for God's sake! Not when Betty's life might be on the line. He went into the bathroom and took a nice cold shower, trying to both wake himself up and cool off, then got dressed and called the number Mr. Pienna had given him earlier.  
"Captain Sukki, please. This is Daniel Meade calling. I'm trying to find out about my friend and employee, Betty Suarez? She's the young lady that disappeared from the Hilton Hawaiian Village two nights ago. Yes, I'll hold." He listened impatiently to eightees muzac for a few minutes that seemed to last forever. "Hello. Captain Sukki?  
Yes, this is Daniel Meade. I understand you are the man to bug to find out what's going on with the investigation into Betty Suarez's disappearance. Can you tell me anything? Because I am wondering if this is being considered as a possible kidnapping yet and also, if you know for sure she's still on this island?"  
"Hello, Mr. Meade. Yes, Mr. Pienna told me to expect to hear from you. Are you okay? He said you passed out earlier. We get a lot of folks who try to make the flight non-stop from the East Coast of the mainland who flip out. It's a long time to not be getting good blood flow."  
"Yes, yes. I'm fine, thanks. I wanted to know about Betty, though. Do you think she left the island?"  
"Well, I'd like to get you and her sister and friends in here to look at the footage I got from DOT the night of her disappearance, see if you think this might be her. Can you get to the station?"  
"I'll be there in twenty minutes. I'm on my way."  
He texted the address of the police station to the others to meet him there and called The Cab. He smiled, thinking how cute Betty had told him she thought it was that they were so straightforward with everything here. The island-wide public bus system was called, "The Bus" and the city-wide cab service was called, "TheCab". He remembered she had said the people were also very no-nonsense. Not two-faced at all, (like a lot of New Yorkers) he read between the lines of her intent. She loved that about them.  
She found a kinship with the sweet, kind people here, she had told him several times. She seemed almost mesmerized by the island and it's warm, inviting spirit of aloha. She had told him something about a saying to do with that that he wished he could remember now, but his brain was still somewhat muddled. He had grabbed a bottled water and a banana from his mini fridge before he left and he gratefully gulped down the water now and ate the fruit, somewhat shakily.  
"You okay, brah? You got the shakes, eh?"  
"Well, yeah. I think I'm just sort of hungry and thirsty. It was a long flight from New York this morning. I'm still a little off, I guess, that's all."  
He smiled, nodding with understanding, "Yeah, brah! I feel you. I gone to my auntie's place in Tonga once for a weddin, brah! I thought I'm gonna die! Just cause we both islands, don't mean it's close. Their ain't no bridge, that's fer sure!"  
"How long a flight is it?"  
"About six, seven hours, brah. It's long!"  
"Try over ten hours! And that's non-stop! I thought I was going in the space shuttle. It's closer to fly to Russia, I think. I've been to Europe a few times, and that wasn't nearly as bad. Thailand was terrible, though. It was the worst. I connected in Singapore, and it still took forever. Of course, I was pretty bombed then. I had just lost my wife. I was going there to spread her ashes. So, I was out of it completely. I felt like I was never going to get off the damn plane."  
The man looked at Daniel with deep sympathy in his eyes. Eyes that were wrinkled and creased from both laughter and pain, it seemed. He had fairly dark-skin, and was a short, stocky man, with thick, black, coarse hair. Daniel couldn't tell if he was a native Hawaiian, but that seemed to mean so many different things, here. Ethnicity was all over the place. Lots of different populations had found their way to paradise over the years, it seemed.  
But no matter his heritage, this man seemed to convey the same kind, gentle spirit Daniel had sensed from the hotel manager and all the staff, "You lose your wife, brah? That's bad. I'm sorry to hear. Why you headed to the police now? Something to do with her? She's not got hurt here, I hope?"  
"No. It's not her. She's been gone for over a year now. She uh….died of cancer. No, I'm here because a dear friend of mine is missing. She was staying at the Hilton and she's…"  
"You mean, Betty? You here to find Betty? I know she's been gone. A lot of people she talk to around the hotel including me are worried. They say she just disappeared. Are you her Daniel?" He looked at Daniel closely.  
________________________________________  
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Tough Days for Tough Girls  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 4: Tough Days for Tough Girls  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
Daniel looked at the cab driver strangely, narrowing his eyes, "So, wait, Betty talked to a lot of locals for her story idea, I know. I read her notes on how much it takes to live here, they were great. But, she mentioned me when she talked to you? What did she say?"  
The man shrugged, grinning, "Nothin much, Mistah Daniel. Sistah just think you really nice guy. Maybe have little crush on you. When we talk story, she was 'Daniel this' and 'Daniel that', and I say to huh, 'You LIKE this Daniel brah, no?" and she get all cute and blushy and giggly."  
Daniel reddened slightly, himself, "She did? Really?"  
The man smiled, and pointed at Daniel, "Yeah! Just like you do now, brah! You red, too! Ah, that so cute, you like sistah, too, eh?"  
Daniel cleared his throat, then straightened his collar. Man, he had to start wearing more loose-fitting shirts, he thought. He wasn't used to the humidity here, it was making him sweat. He tried to ignore the man's steady gaze, but the driver just continued laughing at him, "Young love, so cute. Sistah like you, you like her. Now you just gotta FIND wea she at! Here we go, brah. Hea the five-oh station! Good luck finding sistah Betty! I hope you find huh soon. No worries, brah. She kama' aina, she good wahine. The island take care ah huh!"  
"What's that? I heard that before, Kama eyna. What does that mean?"  
"It mean, at one with the land. Aina is the land, brah. The island either like you here, or it spit you out, like the volcanos on big island. Betty is a tita, she a tough wahine. She be okay, bra. So, no worries. The island gonna take care uh Miss Betty. Hang loose, brah." He smiled, giving Daniel the shaka sign.  
Daniel nodded, not understanding half of what the man was saying, other than he thought Betty was a tough chick or something and that the land would either take care of her or she might fall into a volcano. He tried to wiggle his hand, but the man laughed and showed him, hand over hand then smiled, and nodded, "There you go, brah. That's it. Hang loose. You gonna find huh! Aloha!"  
"Aloha. Thanks."  
"Mahalo."  
"Ma-hal-o?"  
"That means tanks here."  
"Oh, okay. Mahalo, then, uh bro? Brah?"  
"There you go, brah. You got it." he waved, leaving Daniel standing outside the Honolulu police station.  
He took a deep breath and walked in, asking for Captain Sukki's office. He was taken to a small desk, with a gorgeous view, and a fairly modern computer, but furniture that had seen better days, and those days were likely in the late eighties.  
He sat, looking around at the men, many were really built. God, how did all the guys seem so fit, here? Just because the nice weather allowed them to run a lot or something, he wondered. They all seemed to have extremely well-toned shoulders, and upper bodies, and amazing abs. They looked almost painted on, they were so perfect!  
Then, he noticed a man, who may have been in his early forties, but was in excellent shape, coming in wearing a wet suit, peeled down past his waist. He was carrying a surf board, which he placed up on the wall behind his desk.  
He was still slightly damp, but took a towel and dried himself off. He went into the bathroom and a few minutes later, now dressed, the man came over to Daniel and stuck out his hand to him, "You must be Mister Meade. I'm Captain Sukki. Sorry to keep you waiting. I heard there were some big waves on the North Shore, so I was there, early this morning, when we spoke. I wanted to talk to some locals, so I was out, surfing with them, trying to get some information about your friend. Have a seat. I'll show you the HDOT footage. See if you think it looks like Miss Suarez."  
Daniel looked at the Captain, wondering if all the people here were so fit and looked so young for their age. No wonder so many 'mainlanders' decided to retire here, he thought. It seemed to really be the fountain of youth.  
"Okay. Sure." Daniel was prepared for anything. He cringed, thinking the worst, that he was going to see Betty struggling against some big thug or something, perhaps, but that wasn't the video he was shown. The hotel footage he had already looked at had just been her, riding in the elevator, or walking through the lobby. Nothing suspicious.  
This, at first glance, seemed innocuous enough, as well. From across the street, the camera had captured her looking carefully around, then walking slowly down the sidewalk, past the statue of Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, the guy, stretching out his arms, that people put leis on, Daniel knew. The one who started the whole 'aloha spirit' movement.  
She stopped at the statue, and waited. Then a car pulled up. It looked to be a somewhat popular car on the island, Daniel had seen a lot of them, he remembered, just the little he had been out. "What kind of car is that?"  
"It's a Chrysler Sebring, two thousand six or seven. We're trying to get a better resolution on the plates. The only problem is, you might have noticed. It's a rental car. The island's choke with them. So, even once we run the plates, they could just lead us to somebody who rented it with a fake ID. I take it from your expression, you do think that was her?"  
Why was he saying 'was'? Daniel didn't like the way people were starting to refer to Betty in the past tense, himself included. It scared the hell out of him. He continued to watch, then put his hand to his head as he saw Betty look around carefully, then get into the car.  
"Shit! So she got in willingly. Does that mean, you aren't going to be considering this kidnapping? What if they threatened her if she didn't get in or something? They might have been pointing a gun at her. It's too dark and grainy to see who's inside the car."  
"Don't worry, Mr. Meade. We'll clean up the video and we'll get the plates run, to at least see who it was that rented the car. My concern at this point is more where the car was headed. I have been requisitioning the feed that follows it, but I can tell you right now, the direction he was headed was towards the airport."  
"So, they could have taken her anywhere?"  
"Exactly. But one of the good things about our airport here is it's very small. We've got pretty great cooperation with the guys at TSA and our men, too. We've been working on trying to slow down at least some of the drug trafficking between here and the mainland west coast, as well as Japan and other island traffic. Meth is our worst offender here. Anyway, because of that, security is tight.  
I should have the video here in less than twenty minutes that will show me if they took her to the airport or not, then we'll look at their feed and let you ID her positively at the airport. At that point, I don't think she'd have been a willing traveler. Surely, your friend wouldn't have gotten on an airplane with whoever it was without a fight.  
So, that means they might have had her drugged or something, and that's usually a red flag for airport security. It's something they would have at least taken note of, a woman acting drugged could be a number of things, domestic dispute, sex slavery…"  
"You don't think THAT'S what they took her for, do you? Some kind of forced prostitution? Do they have a big problem with that here?"  
"Well, I'm sorry to say, but we do have a lot of pretty girls here, obviously, which is a big draw for rich men, wanting to get their kicks, and they don't ask too many questions about where the girls are coming from, I'm afraid."  
Daniel felt sick again. "But, wait, if that's what they were taking her for, they WOULDN'T be flying her off the island, right?"  
He shrugged, checking some emails as he spoke, "It all depends on where the demand was, it could be here, it could be some rich guy in California that requested a 'Hawaiian girl'.  
"But, Betty's not Hawaiian. She's Mexican-American. She doesn't look Hawaiian at all, really."  
"That doesn't really matter. They dress them up in some hula skirt or something, and throw a…look, I'm sorry. This is not necessarily the case with your friend, whatsoever, Mr. Meade. That's just one possible scenario. There could be a number of reasons she was taken. My immediate objective is to find out WHO took her, that should tell us the why. If it was someone she knew, especially from the mainland, that would be a huge clue as to their motive.  
I understand Miss Suarez was a reporter or something? She was asking a lot of questions while she was here?"  
"I guess. I mean, she just wanted to b….SHIT! I mean, she WANTS to be a writer. Shhee…" He broke down, putting his head down, "She"  
The New York 'posse' had just seen Daniel, sitting at Captain Sukki's desk. Hilda saw he was crying, and she jumped to the wrong conclusion, "Oh, my God, Daniel, what's wrong? Is it Betty? Is she…? NO! It can't be! I don't believe it. Tell me, what happened!"  
The Captain stood and came around to Hilda, and held her, "It's fine, Miss. We don't know anything yet. Mr. Meade was just overwhelmed with the situation in general. This is still a very active investigation into a missing person's report, that's all. There's no reason to believe your friend isn't still very much alive, okay?"  
"My sister."  
"Oh, you're Hilda Suarez, then?"  
"Yes. Why?"  
"I have a note here that you received an urgent message from your son. He said he knows what's going on and he wants to know why you're avoiding his calls." The man grinned slightly, "The young man sounded fairly persistant, Miss. I'd say if your sister is anything like your son, she would be a pretty tough girl."  
"She IS a tough girl, officer. Betty's from Queens, New York. She is a VERY tough girl!"  
________________________________________  
Chapter 5: Chapter 5: In and Out  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 5: In and Out  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
Daniel went into the room marked, 'Kane', which he had figured out from the little pictures meant men's room and rinsed off his face, "Pull it together, Daniel. You don't have time for this shit!" He told himself quietly.  
"Talking to yourself?" He jumped, seeing Betty standing behind him, wearing the same bikini and sarong from his earlier fantasy of her. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he needed to get some more sleep, but he didn't have time right now. Maybe some of that Kona coffee would help?  
Betty walked around the side of him, and slid her arms around his waist, putting her head against him. He pushed her off, "Stop it. You're not real. I have to focus right now. I don't have time for uh…this."  
"For me? You don't have time for me, Daniel? Isn't it finding ME that you have to focus on?"  
He looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone else around, to think he was as crazy as he must surely be, then turned to face her, "Betty, I need to find you. Can you tell me where you are right now? I want to make sure you're alright. Can you describe it for me?"  
She looked as if she was thinking, "Yeah, I think I saw a bright light, then I heard angels singing…" she grinned at him, watching his expression of horror.  
"Oh my God, you're dead? Seriously? Why are you laughing? That isn't funny! Why am I seeing you…like this? Why are YOU here?"  
She shrugged, then seductively ran her fingers up his arm, giggling, "I'm not dead, stupid. But I don't know where I am. That's the problem. I have no idea where I am right now. I know it's not on the mainland, though. I know…YOU have to find me, Daniel. These police are trying, but it's up to you. They'll never find me. You'll lose me if you don't figure it out yourself."  
"So that's it, you can't give me some kind of clue as to where you THINK you might be? Who was it in the car that you got into that night? Why the hell did you get in the car in the first place, Betty? Who was it who took you? Was it someone you know? Someone you met here, who was it? Where did they seem to be going?"  
She shook her head, and got very close to him, putting her hand on his cheek, and started swaying again, moving her hands in a hula, "I really don't know anything about where I am or who took me, Daniel. But I'm kama'aina, like Nathan said. I think the island likes me. I feel the aloha here. I'm part of the island and it's part of me. Do you remember what I told you about the aloha spirit? That's me…planting the seed of the aloha spirit.  
Remember what I said? If you do, you'll reap the harvest. The harvest of the final aloha seed planted. There are eight steps to the planting and the harvest of the Aloha Spirit."  
"What? What the hell does that mean, Betty? How about telling me what side of the island are you on? Can you give me the name of a town or something? One that has a few consonants, hopefully? Not one of those a-e-i-o-u names that seem so damn popular here!"  
She laughed, and sounded so much like Betty. Like his Betty. He took her by her arms, looking down at her, "Don't go. Stay and talk to me. Tell me where you are, please? I need to find you and make sure you're alright. Did whoever took you make you dress up like this and…and do things you don't want to do? Is that what you're trying to tell me, Betty?"  
"I want to do things with you, Daniel. You want me too, don't you?"  
She pulled him down as if she wanted to kiss him. He felt himself getting swept up in her scent. Yes, she actually smelled like Betty. He never realized how intoxicating her scent was before. It made him miss her so much, he leaned down, looking at her lips. Those luscious, beautiful lips, as he closed his eyes and felt just a brief touch of them against his, he could hear her pulse against him, beating fast, feel her skin against his. She felt so real.  
"Daniel? Are you okay now, man? The Captain has the video of the car Betty got in. He wants us to all come take a look at it, while he tries to zoom in so we can see if we think we see her inside."  
Tyler saw the look on Daniel's face of frustration and walked up to him, putting his hand on the back of Daniel's shoulder, he leaned forward, "Are you okay? I know this is tough. But we WILL find her, Daniel."  
Daniel wiped his face quickly and sighed, nodding, then slapped Tyler's back, "I know we will. She's alive and we're going to find her. We have to. We'll take a look at the footage and see if they took her to the airport, but I really think she's still on the island. Somewhere. As soon as we're done here, I need to find a power cord and take another look at her laptop.  
She may have something on there that will give us some clues. I have a feeling her disappearance may have something to do with the story she was working on. Maybe she accidentally pissed somebody off with what she found out, you know, talked to the wrong person or something."  
He walked out with Tyler back to the Captain's desk, where they were all transfixed by the video he was showing them. It was of a car, going down a fairly dark highway, so it was difficult to make out much, other than the headlights. The image disappeared, then seemed to take on a different view, as if from farther away. They looked at the Captain for clarification.  
He shook his head, "We don't have highway cameras to cover the whole island at this point. We switched to satellite here. It's a different view, but it's the same car. The minute they drove back into any kind of town, we'll get the closer view again. Then you can see if it appears to be Miss Suarez for certain. I haven't seen this yet myself, so…I don't know what to tell you to expect. Better prepare yourself, just in case."  
Hilda looked at Bobby, and squeezed his hand. He put his arms around her, and whispered, "Don't worry, baby. She'll be okay. I'm sure of it. Like you said, chipmunk's a tough cookie."  
She nodded, but her eyes were moist as she drew a breath, waiting to see what had happened that night.  
Amanda had her head buried in Tyler's chest. She didn't want to watch if something awful had happened to Betty. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt someone so nice. Yes, she knew she had been mean to Betty, but she was her best friend, next to Marc and her only girlfriend. Betty was the only woman she knew who never seemed to be jealous of Amanda, who really seemed to get her. She just had to be okay. Life wouldn't be the same without Betty.  
After about ten minutes, the captain carefully fast forwarded the image, making sure nothing unusual had occurred during the drive from Waikiki.  
He didn't want to upset her friends and family, but he needed to make sure they could identify her. He just hoped whatever had happened wasn't too terrible. This was always a tough call for him to make. He would have much preferred to watch the video himself first, to make sure there wasn't anything too upsetting for them to see, but unfortunately, his eager rookie had brought it to his desk when the family members were there, and obviously anxious to view it.  
The video blurred and disappeared off the satellite image. He messed with the reception, trying to adjust it. Then, finally, a closer image of the car appeared to be arriving at Honolulu International. Two men got out of the car and leaned down briefly, talking to someone inside, then calmly walked to the terminal, taking small carryon bags with them.  
They left the car, which then sped off in a different direction. That was it. Everyone looked at one another. Daniel spoke up, "Did you get a better fix on where the car went after they dropped those guys off?"  
The captain shook his head, "No. We lost the image all together. Even the satellite image. I don't know how, but they somehow went to a part of the island with no cameras, which is probably the leeward side, the less populated part of Oahu. The satellite image should have still come through for us though, so I'm unclear what happened there. But we're questioning people in all the towns on the leeward side of the airport, Waipahu, Kapolei, there are a few military bases around there that they could have gone to, too. We're following all the possible leads."  
"So, can you get an ID on the two guys that did get out? Do you know where they went and who they are? Are they in custody yet?"  
The captain could sense Daniel's urgency. "Mr. Meade, this was my first viewing of this, too. I have been trying to get this information for the past twenty-four hours, but for some reason, we could only get a partial fix on the plates, which didn't get us anywhere. I do know those guys who got out of the car. There both local men, who've been in and out of jail. They're not into anything too heavy, no gang affiliations or big drug or sex trafficking so far. They're just flunkies. They do what they're told and don't ask questions. I did get cooperation already from TSA and found out they went to the Big Island that night. I've got my men picking them up as we speak.  
Even without this video, we saw the Airport security of them and figured they were worth checking out. But this definitely ties them to your kidnapping directly, since we saw her get in the car and them getting out of it."  
"You're calling it a kidnapping for sure now? Should I expect to get some kind of ransom note?"  
The man shook his head, "There's different kinds of kidnapping. If the motive is just to get money from using her association with you, they might go that route. But, Mr. Meade, I don't know if that's what this is about yet. I would keep my ears and eyes open, if I were you, but we can't wait around to be contacted. Unfortunately, it very well could be something like I mentioned before."  
"The…sex thing, you mean? No. Betty would never do that. Even if they drugged her. They couldn't talk her into…doing that, I know. The minute she realized what was going on, she'd fight them."  
The man shrugged, not wanting to seem callous, "I'm not sure what else might be happening here. It may very well have to do with the story she was working on. That seems a fairly likely scenario. Did she have any enemies?"  
They all looked at one another, shaking their heads. He looked at Daniel, "How about you?"


	2. Where is the Aloha?   (Ch 6-12)

Chapter 6:   
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 6: Where is the Aloha?  
________________________________________  
After leaving the police station, Daniel headed straight for the hotel. He wanted to take another look at Betty's laptop, and see if pouring through her notes since she got there would yield any pertinent clues to her disappearance.  
Plus, he couldn't get that whole thing she had 'told' him in his (second) hallucination about the 'spirit of Aloha' out of his mind, how she kept asking him if he remembered what she had said.  
If he was being honest, he really had only been half-listening at the time when she had called, all excited about some big epiphany or wonderful thing she had heard while she was here and although she had tried to tell him about it, it had seemed kind of well, hokey or touristy to him at the time, at least over the phone, so he had sort of tuned her out.  
Daniel had traveled enough to be jaded about things the locals shared with tourists that were supposed to be all mystical or special about the area. It was usually just a way to soak the tourists by making it seem like they were getting some insider information or clues about whatever it was that no other 'regular' tourists had ever been privy to before.  
Right! Such 'privileged revelations' usually came with a price tag. He hated to be so cynical, but he was older and wiser than Betty to the ways of the world, he reasoned.  
He had rolled his eyes (which she of course, could tell he was doing) even over the phone, and had yelled at him for doing to her, especially when he told her she was being naïve.  
He knew how much she hated it when he (or her father or sister) accused her of being too trusting and gullible. She was adorable, but she tended to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes far beyond what was…well, normal.  
Daniel prayed her sweet, trusting nature hadn't been taken advantage of in some sinister way once she had arrived here. She had seemed so happy to be in Hawaii, he remembered. He could still hear her voice, over the phone now,  
"Daniel, this place is amazing! I can't believe you've never been here before. It's SO beautiful; it looks just like a postcard." She giggled, "I guess people don't even send those much anymore, though. So, okay, it looks like a screensaver come to life!  
I think I'm going to unpack my bikini and sarong, and go jump in the lagoon. The first thing I'm getting is one of those drinks in a coconut. Or maybe a pineapple."  
He had smirked, "Don't get too drunk. You'll end up flashing some guy at a bar or something. Wait, did I hear you right? Did you just say you brought a bikini there? YOU, Betty? A bikini? I'd like to see that! That's uh…sort of not like you, is it?"  
"Hey, I'm on vacation! Sort of. Don't worry, Daniel, I'll still get the cruise line story done, too And as far as the bikini goes…I'm wearing the cover up for my huge butt!"  
"Betty…first of all, nobody said you had a huge…uh butt. And I'm not worried about you doing your job at all. I know you always give a hundred and ten percent. I never worry about you."  
"That's good, I guess. Well, I'm sure you're busy, Daniel. I just wanted to check in and let you know I was here, safe and sound."  
"Good to know, Betty. Have fun learning the hula. Hey, maybe you can teach that to me, too, when you get back. Just like you taught me…Betty? Oh, okay, bye! I mean, aloha!"  
He heard her talking to Hilda and Amanda in the background, and had let her go. She had called again, the next day 'just checking in again', telling him she was on her way to the Disney resort to take her notes on the fashion show and she would turn in her report ASAP.  
He had told her to relax, and enjoy herself. He knew she'd get her work done. What he didn't know at the time, was she had also been doing her own story. Something more in line with her real passion.  
He read the rough draft for her story again, and all her notes, this time, more carefully, looking for anything that might tell him where to start looking for her.  
He saw her notes from her interview with the cab driver he had spoken to earlier. His name was Nathan Kawika, and he had lived on Oahu all of his fifty-two years. The man had visited Samoa and Tonga, where he had relatives, and he had only ever traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii and canoe-paddled to the coast off Molokai when he was younger. He was divorced, with two children, one, a twenty-four year old daughter, named Princess and a son, Sami, who had died twenty years ago, when he was only four, in a boating accident.  
Betty had written a stirring account of the deep sense of sadness she felt when Nathan had shared with her that both he and his ex-wife blamed him for their son's death and it had driven them to divorce.  
Betty wrote that, although he had made sure his son wore his life vest and checked it several times, being a rambunctious four-year old, little Sami had managed to unsnap it and when a 'sneaker wave' hit the boat and capsized it, the child had drowned, before Nathan could save him.  
Two other adults and three other children had been aboard, and although they had all been shaken up and devastated, everyone had insisted poor Nathan had done all he could to protect, then try to save and revive his son.  
He had continued CPR on the child for more than thirty minutes until the ambulance arrived to their somewhat remote location and he had swam frantically, trying to find the boy when the boat had first capsized.  
Daniel's heart went out to the friendly, kind man. He would never have guessed the teasing; seemingly easy-going guy had been through such heartbreak. He loved reading Betty's sweet re-telling of the man's heroic efforts to save his young son. She was a good writer. God! There he went again. She IS a good writer. He silently berated himself, thinking he had to take a short nap. He was going on three days with less than six hours of sleep now. No wonder he was passing out and hallucinating.  
But he felt guilty sleeping, thinking Betty could be somewhere, needing desperate help right now. He fought to stay awake and his eyes drifted open and closed, as he read and re-read her words. He noticed a file, titled 'My life with D". He clicked on it, curiously.  
His heavy-laden eyes suddenly popped open as he read what could only be categorized somewhat as erotica. He shook himself awake and went back to the first few lines of Betty's little 'journal' or whatever it was.  
One thing he figured out, he was the star of it. She had written all about various things they had done together and how breathless he had made her feel when he talked to her in that 'gravelly, sexy, voice of his', so that she 'felt it to her toes' and back up again to her very core.  
He was totally blown away. Not just at what she had written (and the very sexy way she had written it), but that she had evidently had these kinds of feelings for him for so long and he was totally clueless. He knew he was completely stepping over a line here invading her privacy like this.  
He also was well aware this file had absolutely nothing to do with finding her, but he found he couldn't stop reading; how she had wanted to do things to him, for him, have him do certain things to her.  
Wow, he had NO idea what a deviously sexy mind Betty had! He smiled, reading about a few of the things she had done with Matt, but had been guiltily thinking about Daniel the whole time, and she suspected he knew it, and that's why he had really left to go to Africa.  
He sighed, wondering how he could not have known she felt that way about him after all these years. Was he really that self-involved? Really that blind? How could he not see how amazing Betty was all this time?  
He put his head back against the chair, and closed his eyes for a second, just to rest them.  
He woke again, this time feeling a weight on top of him, and he opened his eyes to Betty kissing him, running her hands through his hair sensuously. At first, he simply gave in to the sensation of her tongue. He could taste it, sweet, almost like coconut, or vanilla, and feel it, dueling with his own, and he felt her warm breasts, resting against his bare chest. He looked down to see her same blue bikini top.  
He somewhat reluctantly pushed himself away from her, "Uh, this is new. Since when do you sit on my lap like this and uh…kiss me like that, Betty? I mean, I know you're not really here, but, is this about that little file of yours? The one about us? About me?  
She continued to rest her forehead against his, then looked hungrily into his eyes, while she ran both her hands through his hair, and started kissing his neck, "Daniel…you naughty boy. You read MY little dirty secret! Now you know what it is you do to me. What you've always done to me. What I'd like to do to you."  
He grabbed her arms, and honestly considered it for a moment, feeling very turned on by her obvious arousal, but cleared his throat, "Betty, I'm really tired. I know I'm hallucinating. I know you're not really here. Look, I NEED to find you. I'm so worried about you.  
What was that thing you were telling me before? Was it important? Is it going to help me find you? That thing about the Spirit and the seven or eight steps to the Aloha or whatever it was? I'm sorry; I'm so exhausted right now. I can't really remember what it was you said. Is it on your computer?"  
She shook her head, still keeping her head against his, and bringing her mouth inches from his, "It's not on my computer, Daniel. It's in my heart." She put his hand on her breast. His breath hitched. She sure felt real enough.  
She continued, "It's everywhere. Ask the nice policeman. Man, he's got a body, huh? All the surfers here do. They need to have surfing as a body building class at the gym. I might actually be tempted to go to one."  
He looked at her, "Sorry, Daniel. I'm just saying, those guys are so…never mind. You're hot, too. I like your chest, and your uh…" She was kissing his chest softly, and putting her hands all over him, and he could swear he felt her down to his toes. He closed his eyes, getting somewhat carried away in that feeling, then suddenly woke with a start, seeing her file, open, on the laptop, that he had fallen asleep holding tightly.  
He determined he was going to need yet another cold shower to stave off this dehydration/exhaustion-induced pre-occupation he seemed to be having with his hallucinations of Betty. Shit! That one had been real enough to get him standing at attention, that was for sure.  
He shook his head, and went to take his second shower of the day (or was it night?) He felt very disoriented right now. As he came out of the shower, wrapping a towel around himself, he picked up his watch, and seeing it was only three-thirty in the afternoon, he decided he should pay another visit to the Captain and find out how the investigation was going. He sure wasn't doing any good here, having sex fantasies about his best friend and getting all worked up over nothing.  
He got dressed, this time wearing a loose-fitting cotton shirt and lightweight khaki pants with sandals. He couldn't remember the last time he had dressed so casually. Maybe in St. Bart's? With Molly? When he should have been helping Betty deal with her dad's heart attack. Yet she hadn't said anything.  
Other than reminding him that he shouldn't have been on vacation with his friend's former fiancée that he had 'stolen' from him.  
She hadn't seemed convinced at the timing of Molly and Connor's breakup. He hated that 'judgy' face she always got when he did something (what did she call it?) Oh, yeah, "Old Daniel-y".  
He walked back into the police station and saw Captain Sukki, just finishing some phone calls. The man looked up, with recognition, and understanding. Daniel could only assume he was hardly the first annoying friend or relative of a missing person the man had encountered in his career.  
"Hello, Mr. Meade. Did you think of any MORE possible enemies of you or your family? I already have quite a list here. I'm afraid we're still following up on the ones you gave us earlier." He seemed almost jovial and Daniel was anything but.  
He was tired, he was grumpy, he was totally sexually frustrated, and he was starting to get just a little pissed off at this laid-back, aloha, hang loose, everything will be alright Bob Marley attitude everyone seemed to have here.  
He was a New Yorker, for Christ's sake! Where was the hustle? Why weren't these poi eating guys chasing down the bad guys right now? Finding his Betty!  
He glared at the man, "I was wondering if you've ever heard of something called the Spirit of Aloha, something about seeds and a harvest, with seven, no I think eight, yeah, eight steps!"  
Captain Sukki shrugged and opened his desk drawer, reaching in and pulling out a handful of cards that read, 'Aloha-The Aloha Spirit at Work'. On one side, there were three columns, each with eight traits under them. The first column said, 'Seed Planted', the second, "Fruit of Seed' and the last, "Harvest'.  
The 'seeds planted' were supposed to be Forgiveness, Patience, and so forth. The fruit of seed had Unity, and others. And the final column, under the 'Harvest' was Joy, peace, security, friendship, confidence, self-control, strength, and SUCCESS. Daniel read it over. It did have a familiar ring to it. Betty had shared this with him. Another thing he had dismissed as 'hokey tourist crap'.  
The captain turned it over for him. On the front had been a blue background, with Aloha written in large white letters. On the opposite side, the background was black and the word Aloha was replaced by 'Misery'. Then the subtitle read 'Where is the Aloha?'. The categories were basically the opposite of the front, instead of forgiveness, unforgiveness, and the fruit of that seed was disunity, which showed a harvest of bitterness. Some of the other relationships had Daniel curious and concerned. He looked across from Disrespect and saw the fruit listed as enemies, and the harvest listed as 'loneliness'. What did all this mean? He looked at the captain, questioningly.  
Captain Sukki explained, "This is something our lieutenant governor, Duke Aiona has had distributed throughout the state, along with the Hawaii National Guard Counterdrug program to prevent drug abuse in schools and support addicts in their recovery.  
It was first developed by a pastor named Allen Cardines at Hope Chapel in Nanakuli. They have a large drug problem there and the police force is helping get these cards out to as many people as we can, in support of Pastor Cardines. He's a great guy. He sponsors a lot of services for the indigent here on Oahu and all the islands."  
"So, this is a program to try and stop drug abuse?"  
"Yeah, basically. How did you hear about it?"  
"From Betty. She uh…mentioned it to me on the phone when she got here and I remembered it, but didn't really understand what it was about.  
Captain, do you think those guys in the car with her are going to talk? Have you found them yet? What are their names?"  
"Mr. Meade, I'm sorry, but you know I can't really tell you that. Not during an ongoing investigation. What I can tell you…is, I'm sorry, I've really got to use the restroom. We'll talk when I get back." He started to leave, but looked at Daniel, then down to his desk, at a file.  
After he walked away, Daniel looked at his desk and scanned the police report, seeing previous mug shots next to pictures of the guys who had gotten out of the car. He ran to the elevator and once he got in he scribbled down the names so he wouldn't forget them in his sleep-deprived haze.  
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Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Kona Zombies  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 7: Kona Zombies  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
Daniel called the 'troops' to see where everyone was and how they were doing. Hilda had just had a very uncomfortable conversation with Justin, trying to tell him as gently as possible that his aunt was missing. He knew something was up, but the police hadn't told him what was going on, only that they would try and contact his mother.  
He didn't take the news well, and Hilda was trying to reason with him from wanting to come join the search. "Justin, you need to stay there and go to school."  
He wasn't buying it and threatened to 'tell on her' to Ignacio, but Hilda dug her heels in, "Do YOU want to be responsible for giving your grandfather another heart attack, mijoh? Now, stop being such a pain, Justin. I'm here, Bobby's here. Daniel, Amanda and Tyler are all here. We've been talking to the police and the hotel people. We WILL find her and bring her back home, I promise you. I need you there, making sure your grandpa doesn't find out about this, okay? Please? For your mother?"  
He sighed and relented, "FINE! But, Mom, you'd better find her soon. I'll give you guys three days there, then I'm booking my own flight. I've got money saved. I promise I won't tell grandpa, but listen to me, we lost dad; not to mention, I barely even remember grandma. I'm not going through that again with AB! I want a daily report on whatever you find out, Mom."  
She smiled, thinking how much like her he was sometimes. "Okay, I promise, Justin. I love you, baby."  
"I love you, too, Mom. Tell Bobby he'd better take care of you, too."  
When Daniel came into Betty's room, which had become their unofficial meeting place, they all looked at him. Hilda asked, "So, you said you got the names of those two guys that got out of the car she got into? They're criminals?" She was clearly upset, but more angry than crying.  
Daniel read off the names of the two men that he had gotten off the Captain's desk and showed them their pictures he had found online and printed off. "You know, I think Captain Sukki clearly wanted us to follow up on this. Maybe the locals aren't talking to the police, but if we let them know we're her friends and family who are just looking to get her back, they might talk to us.  
I know Betty sai…would expect us to help try and find her. The police are doing their best, I'm sure, but…listen, I also have another lead. Betty told me over the phone about this anti-drug program." He handed the all the Aloha cards Captain Sukki had given him.  
"The guy who started its name is Pastor Allen Cardines. He's in some church called Hope in Nanakuli. That's just past the Disney resort where Betty went for the cruise line fashion show this week, so there might be some connection there.  
I'm still not sure what to do about the guys in the car. If the Captain's men have already tracked them down on the Big Island, I'm not sure exactly what we can do on that end right now. Personally, I want to see those guys in person, so I can beat the shit out of them until they tell us why Betty got into the car with them in the first place and who else was in there, who's behind all this."  
Amanda stifled a giggle, and as everyone looked at her, she shook her head, (she had obviously been crying), "I'm sorry, Daniel. It's just that, as much as I know you're serious and you're really worried about Betty, like we all are, the idea of you beating up a couple of big Hawaiian guys, ones that are criminals and probably sort of tough guys…I mean, everyone knows how much you suck at fighting."  
"Maybe so, Amanda. But I sure as hell knocked stupid Matt Hartley on his ass. And that was just because he was being a jerk talking to Betty."  
She nodded, narrowing her eyes, "Right, because her on again, off again boyfriend had no right to question what you and Betty were doing all night together when she didn't show up for an extremely important meeting for her job because she was with you the whole time."  
Daniel was aware that everyone was watching his expression. He was slightly embarrassed, but mainly because of his hallucinations and the file he had found. He stuttered, "I had just lost Molly. Betty was just letting me talk things out that night. She didn't want me to be alone, Amanda. Come on. Nothing…happened. She and I are just friends."  
"You sure about that, Gringo?" Hilda saw his discomfort.  
"Gringo? Yes, Hilda, I'm sure. Betty is my friend. Period. We've never done anything besides hug, okay? I was her boss for a long time and we…like each other. But not like that. You know this already. We don't have time for this. We need to find her."  
"Yeah, I mean, just because the Mode rumors say he and Betty are…more than friends, that doesn't mean anything. People just make up stuff."  
Hilda looked at Tyler, "Yeah? What do these 'rumors' say about them?"  
Tyler shrugged, looking at Daniel apologetically. "Nothing. Daniel's right. This isn't getting us anywhere. So, it looks like we should go talk to the Disney people about anything she might have done or someone she might have talked to there and to the pastor guy in Namukuuie? Wherever. That place with the Hope church. Right?"  
"We could also do some research on these two guys, try and see if they have friends or family here on Oahu that we can try and find out anything from until the police bring them back here." Bobby looked at the names and faces Daniel had printed out of the men again.  
"Or we could split up and a few of us could go to the Big Island now and see if we can talk to the guys themselves." Tyler suggested. "Maybe the ladies could go to Disney and the church, talk to the pastor and we three men go and do what Daniel suggested."  
"What, you want us to beat the shit out of those guys until they tell us something about Betty?" Daniel raised his eyebrows.  
"Hey, it's three of us against the two of them. Even if you do suck at fighting, Daniel, he's big and I'm pretty good in a fight. I did grow up in Queens. And even if it's not true, all I have to do is mention my family's possible ties to the mob and most people pee their pants. Believe me; we can get those guys to talk." He put his fist into his other hand.  
Tyler and Daniel both raised their eyebrows, looking somewhat impressed and a little surprised.  
"Fine. But how are we going to get them away from the police? I don't want to take a chance on letting them escape or anything." Daniel looked at Bobby.  
He shrugged, but Tyler suggested, "So, maybe we don't get them out of police custody. We could sneak IN to the jail or wherever they are in the Big Island, then just leave them where we found them. They don't know us. Besides, what would the cops really do to us if they found out we roughed the guys up a little? We'd be doing them a favor. I'm sure, with the Meade family lawyers we could get out of any legal trouble even if we did get caught, right, Daniel?"  
Daniel nodded, "Yeah. Absolutely. That's exactly why we've got lawyers on retainer. It'd be a lot better than when I had to use them to get out of fake paternity suits and crap with women."  
Bobby nodded, "Yeah. Besides, like you said, we'd be doing the cops a favor, so they probably wouldn't even care that much. If it was their friend or sister, they'd feel the same way. Maybe the cops aren't allowed to rough people up, but we're talking about chipmunk here."  
"Chipmunk? What the hell is that?" Daniel looked puzzled.  
He shook his head, and laughed, lightly, "Sorry. It's my nickname for Betty."  
"I'd ask why, but that might hurt your tough guy image. Hey, I'm in. I think I'm going to go change. I'll meet you guys here. I look like a damn tourist in this outfit, but I was so hot earlier, I thought I was going to sweat to death. Have any of you guys gotten any sleep?"  
They all shook their heads. "Not really, no. Have you? Daniel, you look REALLY bad. How much sleep have you gotten?"  
He shook his head and shrugged, "Like five or six hours tops since Hilda first called me. My mind won't shut off. I keep thinking, if she's not sleeping, warm and safe in her bed, I shouldn't get to, either, you know?"  
They all nodded in agreement. Amanda picked up a cup of coffee she had been sipping on, "You guys need to try this Kona coffee. Especially if you're going to the Big Island. That's where they grow it. It's awesome stuff."  
Daniel rubbed his head, "It's really strong, Amanda. I tried some earlier and it gave me a freaking headache."  
"You get used to it." she took another sip, shrugging.  
"Yeah. I couldn't drink it when we first got here, but I kind of like it, now. It definitely wakes you up. But we should all eat something, too. Or Daniel's right, we'll get a headache. Let's get some breakfast with lots of that coffee and regroup.  
Then, we'll split up. You guys can head off to the airport to go beat a confession out of those men and us ladies will go to the other side of the island to talk to the people there and see what we can find out." Everyone followed Hilda's lead.  
Amanda and Tyler were arm in arm, as were Bobby and Hilda. Daniel excused himself, "Go ahead and get a table, guys. I'm just going to go back to my room and change. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes. Order me some of that coffee, please? Lots of it!" he smiled.  
As soon as he got to the sink in his bathroom, he splashed off his face, trying to get a grip. He was really going to go try and intimidate criminals with Bobby and Tyler? Hell, if it got them information on where Betty might be, why not, he thought to himself?  
He looked in the mirror at himself. He hadn't looked this bad since some of his post-college exploits with Becks. And he was a lot younger then. So, scratch that, he'd NEVER looked this bad before. So much for Betty's 'handsome, hot guy' image, he thought.  
He put his head down and suddenly saw her arms around his waist. He felt her head leaning against his back. "I love that you're willing to do this for me, Daniel, but be careful. Those guys are dangerous. Bobby and Tyler are tough, but you're not. You're used to going up against a bunch of bitchy women, not men who are criminals."  
He turned to face 'her'. He shook his head, "Why are you here? If you can't tell me where yo…where Betty is, then just stop torturing me like this, please. I don't have time to fantasize about you, I mean her. I have to FIND her. Right away. She may be hurt or…worse..  
You're right; those are dangerous men who were in the car with her. She is the one I'm worried about, not me. I'm a grown man. I'm going with two other grown men. I'll be fine. Betty is the one who is in danger."  
She looked like she was about to cry, "I AM Betty."  
He hugged her, "I'm sorry. God, I miss you, Betty. I…feel so lost. So empty without hearing your voice."  
"That's why I'm here, Daniel. To give you your daily dose of Betty sunshine. Remember what you said about me…."  
He smiled, "Being a force of nature, like sunshine? Yeah. You teased me about how corny I sounded for weeks, Betty. I remember."  
She giggled, "You WERE corny. But sweet. At least, AFTER our big fight about you only seeing me as the girl who first came to Mode. That hurt me that you couldn't see how I had changed at first."  
"I think I was always afraid to think about you any other way, Betty."  
"Why?"  
He leaned against the counter. "Because, then I'd have to really look at you how you are now and that scared the hell out of me. To realize how much you've changed. How much you've grown up since you first started at Mode. You've changed a lot, I know. But, I haven't."  
She put her hands on his chest, as he tried to put on a white button down shirt. "You have on the inside, where it counts. You've changed a lot. You don't get BJ's under your desk anymore. Even though lots of people at Mode think I do that for you. We both know I don't. At least, not right now." She grinned at him.  
He looked shocked, but blushed slightly as he buttoned his shirt, "You knew that…people said that about us? And it didn't bother you? I used to get Amanda to wipe off stuff in the ladies' room people wrote about us so you wouldn't see it."  
She rolled her eyes, "Well that was pretty dumb of you, Daniel. Who do you think wrote half of it in the first place? Marc wrote a lot of what you saw in the men's room and she wrote it in the ladies. They were both kind of jealous of us in their own way.  
Amanda, of me, because she wanted you for herself until she met Tyler. And Marc, because he was afraid I was doing better than him career-wise."  
He nodded. She looked up at him, trying to 'peek' into his shirt, "Where's your hot chest, Daniel?"  
He rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh, "Stop it. Why are you torturing me? You need to leave me alone."  
She pulled his face towards hers, "No, Daniel. YOU need to know…I need you to find me. I'll die here if you don't. I want you to know how much I always loved you." She looked as if she was about to cry.  
He shook her, then grabbed her face, forcing her to look into his eyes, "Stop that. You're NOT going to die here. I'm going to find you, Betty. Please, don't cry. I…can't lose you. I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise." He held her tightly against him, stroking her hair, and kissed the top of her head.  
She looked up at him, "Don't make promises you can't keep, Daniel. Besides, something bad already has happened. I should have never got in that car. But, I couldn't help myself. I was like a zombie."  
"A…what? What do you mean?"  
"Ask the pastor. He'll know what I mean."  
He held her tightly, not willing to let go of at least 'feeling' like she was really there with him, "Wait, Betty, something bad already happened? What happened? Did those men hurt you? Are you okay? God, Betty, what happened to you? Please tell me!" He started getting more concerned, shaking her.  
Then, as he could tell she was upset, he held her again, "Betty…help me find you, give me some kind of clue. The pastor…can help us, you said? What should we ask him? Is it to do with this card? The one Captain Sukki gave me? Is it…drugs? Are they using drugs to make you do things or doing things, bad things to you?" He started to lose it, even thinking the things he was imagining.  
She shook her head, "Tell him, I got into the car like a zombie. He'll know what that means. Talk to Hilda and Amanda about that night, too. You're right. I know you'll find me, Daniel. You're a smart guy. I have faith in you. But, I'll be okay. You should get some rest. You're exhausted." She put her hand under his eyes, gently.  
He shook his head, "No, I can't rest until I know you're safe. I'll be okay. Betty…I will find you, okay? Know that. Hang on, and try to take care of yourself. Be a tough girl for me, until I get to you, promise me?"  
She nodded, and he lifted up her chin, smirking slightly, "I want to ask you about your little stories, Miss Suarez! I think we definitely need to talk. You're a REALLY good writer, Betty! Some of that stuff about us you wrote! You made ME blush, and that's not easy to do."  
She grinned slyly, and pulled him down to her, holding his face in her hands, "I think we should do more than talk about it, don't you, Daniel? Isn't it time we made some of my fantasies come true?"  
He nodded, grinning at her, as he held her by her arms, "Yeah. I think uh…that would be really nice. I'd like that a lot, Betty." He leaned down to kiss her but she smiled, pulling away from him, and slapped his butt, then stood in the bathroom doorway, "Get dressed and go downstairs now. You have to FIND me, first, Daniel! Remember? Then we'll…play."  
He shook his head and slapped his face again, then finished getting dressed.  
After they had breakfast and a few cups of their Kona coffee, they split up. The men headed off to the airport and the Big Island of Hawaii. The ladies got a rental car with a nav system and headed for the Hope church in Nanakuli to talk to the minister, then they intended to stop at the Disney resort afterward, to talk to the people there who might remember Betty.  
Hilda grabbed her purse, "Oh, Amanda, grab Betty's laptop, will you? I'm not getting good reception on my piece of crap phone here with all these mountains, and we might need to go online to check out some information, so we can go in a Starbucks or something to use the internet on her computer."  
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Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Ookeleles and Pineapples  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 8: Ookeleles and Pineapples  
Disclaimer: I don't own ugly Betty!  
A/N: I certainly don't want to offend anyone here, so I'm changing my rating. There is no sex involved, but some sexual references and language here may be inappropriate for minors.  
So, please note the increased rating. It doesn't mean ANYONE is actually getting any action yet in the naughty sense, but this chapter may also contain some violence. (More to come-against the bad guys!)  
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"How long is this going to take? Did you get the address?" Daniel was so miserable right now, and the bumpy ride in the jeep they had rented wasn't improving his disposition any. The road they were on seemed to stretch out forever. It looked to him like they were on another planet.  
There were tons of black rocks, with small, white rocks, spelling out various things. "Kuno loves Maili", "Sofie is a B". It was like the volcanic version of graffiti, he supposed. He had never seen anything like it before. It went on and on for miles like that. It really did have an other-worldly appearance.  
"Hold on, guys, this looks like a big hill here." Bobby seemed to be greatly enjoying himself. Daniel assumed it was because back in New York, he'd never have this much open road to drive in. However, here, on the island of Hawaii, the size was reported to be bigger than all the other islands combined.  
All Daniel knew was, it seemed to be the longest road in the world. The scenery was gorgeous on the one side, though. He watched the coast to the left of the jeep, trying to distract himself and ignore the pit of his stomach, lurching, as Bobby took them mercilessly up yet another hill.  
Finally, they reached a stopping point on their way. Bobby pointed down a long, unpaved road, "We could take a little break here, get something to eat, after all those bumps, I've got to use the can myself. I think I shook loose a couple of teeth on that road."  
"Yeah, me, too. I'm starving, too."  
Daniel looked at his half-brother, trying not to be envious of the guy's height and great abs. Not to mention, he seemed to be able to eat like a damn horse and not gain an ounce. Daniel missed those days. Now, he had to watch what he ate a lot more carefully and put in a lot more time at the gym and still felt like he was getting older and fatter by the minute sometimes. Especially next to guys like Tyler.  
Bobby was shorter, and more muscular, but still seemed not to worry about how he looked, either. He had that handsome, but rough around the edges look chicks went for, Daniel thought, somewhat enviously.  
He was starving, too. But, even though his stomach was rumbling, he still felt dizzy and exhausted. There was simply too much to do and no time for sleep. And it was beginning to get to him.  
They found a graveled parking lot at the end of the road that led to a sheltered cove with seriously one of the most jaw-dropping beaches Daniel had ever seen. It reminded him of St. Bart's. The sand was white and the ocean was bluer than well, his or Tyler's eyes.  
The men took off their shoes in the sand and looked at one another, nodding and smiling, in spite of the situation. Tyler looked down at his feet, "This is some seriously soft sand, isn't it? Wow! That's really pretty water, too. What is this place called?"  
Daniel read the sign, "Hapuna Beach."  
"Nice! I think, once we find Betty, I'm going to have to bring Hilda back here and get in a little surf time, do some serious r & r with the little missus. Once she is the little missus."  
Daniel smiled, "Yeah. She's a great girl. You're a really lucky guy, Bobby."  
Bobby eyed him, grinning, showing off those fantastic dimples of his. "Thanks. Uh, you know Hilda tells me everything, Daniel. And what she doesn't tell me, I get out of Chipmunk, I mean Betty or Justin. So, I heard all about your little make-out session with my fiancée."  
Daniel looked mildly shocked and somewhat fearful that Bobby was going to slug him. But he relaxed when the man started chuckling, shaking his head, "I figure I should cut you some slack, though, since Justin told me that you were bombed at the time, because you had just found out about your uh…sister. AFTER you hit on her!" He slapped Daniel on the back and headed off to the restroom. "Rough stuff, man!"  
Tyler's eyes popped, "YOU hit on Alexis? Gross, Daniel! That's kind of sick. Even for the Meades. How drunk were you, anyway? I thought I was bad when I drank!"  
Daniel shook his head, "I didn't KNOW it was Alex or Alexis, whatever, at the time, Tyler. I just thought she was some stranger. Just how perverted do you think I am? She was deliberately messing with my head back then, mainly to piss off our dad, you know, hers and mine. I was just collateral damage, I think. She equated me with my dad back then, at least. She and I have sort of moved on a little since then, thank God.  
Her turning out to be DJ's dad didn't help, though. But…whatever. It's all water under the bridge now, I guess. I'll get us some sandwiches if you want to check out the directions with the locals, and see how close we are to this place."  
After eating voraciously and enjoying the beautiful view, Tyler and Bobby both went to double check their directions with the owner of the beach shack burger joint.  
Daniel put his head down on the picnic table, propping up his chin in his intertwined fingers to try and stay awake, looking out at the beautiful beach, wondering if he could do what Bobby planned, and bring Betty here, to share it with her, as well. He seriously hoped so.  
He felt a presence and heard her whisper, "Pretty as a postcard doesn't begin to do this justice, does it, Daniel? It's windy here, but the breeze is perfect, and the water feels amazing." He noticed as she walked around in front of him, she was wet. He looked away (or really tried to), but not before he saw how great she looked.  
Her hair was slicked back and sticking to her back, and he was able to see every bit of her sticking to her wet bikini. The drops of water, that clung to her thighs, arms, and stomach served to show off her honey-colored skin and did nothing for his resolve to keep things strictly business during her little 'visit' this time.  
Intellectually, he knew she was merely some manifestation of his subconscious or whatever, probably as a result of his sleep-deprivation, stress over worrying about her, and who knows what else was wrong with him since he had first heard about her. But that did not diminish for one second the way she looked, the way she smelled, and even how he knew she felt when he touched her. It was as if she was right here with him. He resolved NOT to go down that road again, and to keep his hands to himself. Maybe if he voiced some of his frustrations, it would make 'her' stop torturing him like this.  
He looked back at the water, "Yeah, it's really gorgeous here. So, is there anything we should specifically ask these guys about? I told Hilda and Amanda to ask the pastor back on Oahu about the zombie thing. I found out the name of something that they call the zombie drug, and it's been used to make people commit all sorts of crimes that they have no memory of doing afterwards. It starts with an S-scopal…"  
"Scopalamine; very good, Daniel. I see you've picked up some of my research skills."  
He shrugged, "Not really, Betty. I just know how to google stuff, that's all. I don't usually put myself in danger, just to find out crap that could get me killed or raped or used as a prostitute or some kind of criminal. Do you know how dangerous that stuff is?  
How did you get mixed up with something like that? Hilda and Amanda said you had one of those pineapple drinks you were wanting from the bar before you left them at the pool that night. Is that what happened?  
Somebody slipped that stuff in your drink? Why didn't you watch it more carefully? I can't believe you went with them willingly, Betty. For what? For some stupid story? To prove you can be a great writer? I wish you would just be happy working at Mode. At least writing about hemlines and shoes wouldn't get you molested or killed or something!"  
Betty tried to get in a word edgewise, but she could see he was agitated. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried about me, Daniel. It's not as bad as I thought, though. It's not what you're thinking, really. I am in danger, but I think I know how to handle it. I can try and reason with them."  
"You don't know that, Betty. You can't always talk your way out of dangerous situations, you know. You should never have gotten mixed up in something like this in the first place. You always think you can sweet talk your way out of everything. Being nice doesn't always work on everyone. Not everyone's as nice as you."  
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Hey, try not to worry, Daniel. I feel you getting closer. I know those guys in the car have big mouths, so they should be able to tell you something helpful. And the pastor knows a lot about what's going on in the islands. Hilda and Amanda should be able to find out a lot from him, too. I'm not out of the woods, yet. But I feel like you're on the right track. Justin's coming, too."  
He shook his head, "No. He said he'd give us three days before he came here."  
She gave him a look, "What? You think it's going to take us that long to find you? Why? Are you underground or something? In a cave? In a volcano? Can you tell me when we're getting warm?"  
"I'm pretty warm, that's why I took my shirt off. Take yours off, too, if you're hot, Daniel." Daniel squinted into the sun, putting his hand up, to see Tyler standing over him, eating a 'shave ice', with it dripping down his chest and ridiculously sculpted six pack abs.  
He looked like a huge, goofy kid, Daniel thought. "Mmm…rainbow. The lady over at the beach shack recommended this one. She gave it to me as a free sample. Try one, maybe it'll cool you off."  
After having to shower off the sticky mess, Tyler joined the other two men to jump back in the jeep and head to the airport. He yelled up to Bobby, "I asked another lady there and she said we're on the right road. We just go back out to that main highway we were on, the Hawaii 19A, the one with the long name that starts with an M, mamalahoa or Queen whatever that other long name is that starts with a K and has a bunch of vowels in it highway, they're both the same road, stay on it for a mile and a half, then turn righ ton Kawai something road, and we're on that for almost ten miles, before we get to the Hawaii belt road, where we turn right again, then left onto the road that takes us to the airport."  
Bobby shook his head, "But, wait, you forgot about the second turn is supposed to turn into Lindsey road, before we get onto the belt, right? Isn't that what the big guy with the little ukulele said?"  
Daniel shook his head, then looked puzzled, "What big guy with the ukulele?"  
"Sorry, Ook-uh-lay-lay, however the hell they say it here, the little guitar things everybody plays. I KNOW we call em Yukelalies back home, but whatever, BRAH! Hang loose, brother! Man, this place is seriously wacked out with all these damn names with the vowels! Haven't they heard of puttin a consonant in a word once in a while? My damn tongue feels like I've got a cramp in it just TRYIN to say some of these crazy names of shit!" Bobby and Tyler laughed, but Daniel looked like he was trying to remember something.  
Hadn't there been a big Hawaiian guy with a ukulele in one of his dreams or whatever? What did that mean? That they were on the right track? He rubbed his forehead, trying to massage away his killer headache.  
Tyler patted him on the back, and leaned forward, "You okay, Daniel? Try and hold it together. We're almost there. Don't worry. This isn't Manhattan. There's really not all that many roads out here to get lost on. And definitely a lot less traffic than Brooklyn, huh? The weather and scenery is sure a hell of a lot nicer,too!" He smiled at Daniel, but looked concerned.  
Daniel mumbled, "I was just trying to remember something, that's all. Why the hell do they have these guys out at some deserted airport, anyway? Why aren't they just holding them at the police station?"  
Tyler shrugged, "I don't know. I guess because they're getting ready to fly them back to Honolulu, maybe. I think it might be in our favor, though. We should have an easier time getting to them here."  
"Yeah, I guess." Daniel was concerned about what they were going to use to distract whatever police were guarding these guys, but figured, between the three of them, they'd think of something. They had discussed having one of them keeling over. The way he felt right now, Daniel didn't think he'd have much of an acting job to be the 'fall guy' for that trick. He felt his pocket buzzing. With the open air from the wind in the jeep, he hadn't heard his phone going off.  
He tried to hear, "Hello?"  
"Daniel Meade! Buster, you are in SO much trouble when I get hold of you! What do you mean, doing all that crazy stuff with my sister! No wonder you were always calling her at all hours of the day and night. You perverted, sick, twisted…"  
"Hilda? Is that you? I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Listen, we're in a jeep right now. I'll have to call you back. Try to text me if it's something really important about what you found out from the pastor, okay? I hope you can hear me. Bye!"  
Damn! He was hoping she bought his little deaf/bad reception act for now. He could only assume she had gotten onto Betty's laptop and found that file. He had meant to put Betty's little file on his flash drive and take it out of her documents folder, but he couldn't find the stupid thing in his luggage. He thought he had brought it, but he got distracted and forgot to double check in his carry-on bag. Man, now who knew what she was going to think?  
He was afraid she'd never buy the truth, that in fact, her shy little sister had cooked up those juicy exploits in her own mind. He had to admit, if he were Hilda, he'd more likely believe that Daniel had perpetrated those acts on Betty than that she had invented them. It seemed a lot more plausible, that's for sure. Even if he was innocent; he knew his reputation wasn't going to win him any credibility whatsoever.  
Bobby looked at Daniel in the rear view mirror, "Your reception out here is that bad? With that fancy phone of yours? Hell my little cheap-o phone is working fine. I can let you use mine, if you need to call her back."  
Daniel pointed gratefully at the small, deserted private airport ahead, "Thanks, I'll call her back later. We're here! Let's go find those guys."  
They walked into the small hangar and saw a few men, playing cards in the corner, "Hey, there! What's up? What can we do ya for, haoles? Whatchew doin all the way out hea, anyhow? You lost? Kona Resort is back thuh othuh way, brah. We ain't got no pineapples hea. Sorry."  
Bobby leaned down, trying to look as menacing as he could, although he saw that the guy probably outweighed him two-to-one. Still, he didn't look to be in all that great shape. He looked like he had eaten a few too many pineapples himself.  
Surprise was his best element here, he reasoned. So, Bobby sprung into action and grabbed the man by the throat, "Listen, poi boy, we ain't no frickin tourists. We're looking for a guy even bigger and uglier than you, named Taavili Tapu, and his little friend, a haole, as you call him, Justin Matui. We heard they were bein held here. You know anything about that or not?"  
Daniel and Tyler both looked at each other, somewhat amazed at their friends' cajones, and extremely glad he was on their side.  
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Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Dog Shit, Da Kine  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 9: Dog Sh*, Da Kine!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Okay, so this chapter is going to read more like a guys' action/police thing than detty. (Sorry, no hallucinations in this little section, but no worries, they'll be back). I may actually put a glossary of pidgin 'speak' to help you figgah out wot da kine my brahs are sayin, eh?LOL!  
Pidgin is at least a little better understood if you hear it. It sounds like English, but with a Hawaiian accent. It's a mixture of the many different dialects and slangs from all of the various cultures that found their way to paradise over the years. Sorry, I know it's hard to read (believe me, it's hard to WRITE), but it's pretty much essential for this story to ring true at all. Good luck! (or dog sh*)  
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Once Bobby had 'convinced' the local 'braddah' to cooperate with them, they learned that the police had in fact, left the two men in question there temporarily while their paperwork was being processed.  
The police force was not terribly busy here, since the island wasn't bustling with criminals, like mainland large, metropolitan areas. Things here were (just as on most of the islands, except Oahu) much more 'laid back', so the three part-time employees had been hired as security or temporary guards for any prisoners being transferred from this island back to Honolulu (or any of the other islands). Only those being sent to the mainland went through Hilo or Kona International Airport, and thereby guarded by official police officers.  
"This is perfect." Bobby whispered to Tyler and Daniel, "These local guys don't give a crap what we do to those two. We could give them a freaking shave and a lobotomy and they wouldn't give a rat's ass."  
"A shave and a lobotomy? Is that a saying in Queens or something?" Daniel looked at him strangely.  
Bobby, rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'm just sayin, we've got pretty much free reign to go in there and get something valuable from those two. I've got these local idiots to agree to go have their stupid 'plate lunch' on us, and take their time, and when they get back…"  
Daniel looked concerned, "But, wait a minute, Bobby, how the hell do we know we can trust them? They might say that's what they're doing, but then they could be getting more people or the police or something, you know?"  
"Yeah, you're right. Tyler, do you think you can handle them? Go with them to make sure that's all their doing, is eating lunch? While Daniel and I see what those two guys know?"  
Tyler looked hesitant, "I guess, but, what about having the advantage in numbers here? If we split up, we'll be giving that up. It will be just you two when you go in to question them. Why don't we just tell the other guys to send one of them to go get their stupid lunch? Oh, shit, that won't work, either, one guy could still sound the alarm for reinforcements or the cops, couldn't he?"  
They all nodded, trying to think of a solution. Daniel furrowed his brow, "I know, we could have their food delivered here, then NOBODY has to leave. We'll still be all together, and they can't call for anybody else. In fact, we should call in the order, just to make sure it's legit, and they're not trying to send out some secret message for help or something."  
Tyler nodded, but raised his brows, "It almost sounds like we're the 'bad guys' here, if anybody heard us. I wish we had a gun. I'd feel a lot safer."  
Bobby pointed to a desk that had a handgun lying on top of it. "Look over there. Your wish is granted. Be my guest, if you know what to do with one. Just make sure you do. Believe it or not, I don't really like guns. They scare the hell out of me.  
Especially since Hilda's fiancée got killed like he did. In my neighborhood, you carry a gun, you better figure, somebody's going to make you use it. I'm okay with a knife, but I'm better just with my hands. That way, I know nobody's actually getting killed, especially me."  
Tyler picked up the gun, and looked it over. "Yeah, well, growing up in South Dakota, you learn to shoot pretty early on. I feel comfortable holding one. In some cases, like this where we got three guys out here, and two in there, and only three of us, I feel a hell of a lot safer holding this little equalizer. I just learned, to never drink when I'm using a weapon. Those two don't mix. It's worse than drinking and driving. Both can be a deadly combination."  
Daniel looked at both men, shaking his head, "Yeah, well, I feel like a total lightweight here, guys. You can uh, beat people up and intimidate the hell out of em. Good job, by the way, Bobby. That was very impressive what you did with that guy. He's got to be twice as big around as you, but you didn't let it even slow you down!  
And my half-brother here is freaking Tyler the kid or something. I guess I can just talk them to death or give them fashion tips or something."  
Bobby and Tyler laughed, and Bobby slapped Daniel on the back, "No, listen, I'll tell what you need to do for an edge of your own, here, man. Take that honest-to-God anger over any connection those two in there have to whoever took Betty, Daniel and really show that anger to the point that YOU shake them up. USE your worry for her to intimidate them, okay? Remember, NO FEAR!" He held up his hand.  
Daniel smiled, "Really? You, two? I seriously thought I was the only one who likes this. A man after my own heart, here! Put her there, man. Yeah, let's go kick some, what did you call that one guy? Oh, right, Poi-boy ass, here!" He enthusiastically slapped Bobby's hand, then slapped Tyler on the back, but gave him plenty of room to go ahead, considering he was holding the gun.  
"Hey, what you hoale boys doin with that gun, brah? That's Lieutenant Dan's piece. He gonna wanna beef if he see you mess wif his gun, brah."  
The three looked at each other, puzzled. "Beef? What the hell? He wants a frickin hamburger or something?" Tyler looked confused.  
Daniel was trying not to laugh, "Did he really say Lieutenant Dan? Is Forrest Gump here, too?"  
Bobby nodded in sudden understanding, "Beef, I get it, like you got a beef with me, a problem, you know, pissed off! Lookin for a fight, right?"  
The man nodded, "That right, brah. Go ahead. As soon as you three pau hea, he gonna talk stink, so make sure you get outta hea before he get back, is all, da kine?"  
Bobby looked at Daniel and Tyler, "It's like we're in a foreign country, man. What the hell was that all about, anyway?"  
Tyler shrugged, holding the gun in front of him, "I don't really know for sure, but I think he said we need to leave before the guy who owns this gun gets back."  
Daniel looked at Tyler, impressed, "Does South Dakota get a lot of Hawaiian tourists or something, Tyler?"  
He shrugged, "No. We don't tend to get a lot of tourists from anywhere. That's why Mom stood out like a sore thumb. A rich-looking lady with all her teeth, wearing fancy clothes wouldn't usually tend to come into the bar I was workin at."  
"Well, how do you understand that pidgin talk stuff they use here so well?"  
He shrugged, "I don't really. It's more body language and the way they say stuff that helps."  
Daniel saw that the men got their 'plate lunches' and paid for them to have whatever they wanted, which they accepted gratefully. "Mahalo for the grinds, brah. You lolo's kukua for this wahine, Betty eh? She your honey girl, brah, da kine?"  
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Daniel thought for a minute, "Oh, honey girl, you mean, Betty? My girlfriend? Uh, yeah, that's right. She is. And those guys in there are gonna have a big beef with this brah if I find out they hurt one damn hair on her head, you know what I mean, brah?" Daniel stood up, and clenched his fists hard onto the edge of the table, setting his eyes fixed to the man, looking as if he were ready to kill someone."  
The three men all nodded in understanding and support of Daniel's frustration, and patted him on the back, "No worries, brah. You three go talk story wif those two. See if they know wea somebody take you wahine. Ho, dog shit, brah!"  
"Dog shit?" Daniel really didn't have a freaking clue what these guys were saying to him, but they seemed friendly and encouraging enough. He could only assume from their context that them telling him 'dog shit' somehow connoted them wishing him good luck. Perhaps it was the pidgin equivalent to the 'break a leg' idiom, Daniel reasoned.  
"Okay, are you ready to go see what these guys know?"  
Daniel and Bobby nodded as Tyler led the way, looking back over his shoulder.  
The large Hawaiian man, Taavili Tapu, and his companion, Justin Matui, stared at the three, particularly Tyler, holding the nine millimeter pistol in front of him.  
The large Hawaiian man, Taavili Tapu, and his companion, Justin Matui, stared at the three, particularly Tyler, holding the nine millimeter pistol in front of him.  
Tapu furrowed his brow, "Hey, haole boy, you betta not mess wif Lieutenant Dan's piece, he gonna mess you up, fo shore! What you want wif us, eh?"  
"Yeah, you deaf e-yah or wot? We already tell them cops, we don't know nothin. So, wass yer beef wif us?" Matui looked at Tyler with fear in his eyes.  
Daniel held out his hand for Tyler to 'stand down' with the gun and he walked to the smaller man, "You're Matui, right?"  
"Yeah. Who wanna know?"  
Daniel glanced at Bobby, who nodded and narrowed his eyes at him to encourage his rage.  
He placed both his hands on either side of the man and leaned down to his eye level, and trying to keep his voice low and even, but not caring that it was ragged with emotion, he got in the man's face,  
"I'm the guy whose girlfriend you helped kidnap, that's WHO wanna know, brah! Now, you two are going to do some serious talking and tell us what the hell you know, okay? For starters, who else was in that car with you? Who's in on this and why did they take Betty?"  
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Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Looks Can Be Deceiving  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 10: Looks can Be Deceiving  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Sorry, still no detty yet! (I'm making you wait for it, LOL!) No worries, I promise, Daniel will see our girl again in a big way the next chapter. This is the girls' time. I am giving you a break on the pidgin speak, here, at least. The next time, I will include a glossary for translation!  
As soon as Hilda saw the Hope church in Nanakuli, she wondered if she was in the right place. She looked up, checked the address again and pointed to the building, across from a Kmart store.  
"Does that look like a church to you?"  
Amanda shrugged, "Not really. It doesn't have any old looking windows or crosses or anything. But this is the address for the pastor. Maybe it's like the office or something. You know, for the anti-drug things he helps with other than the church. He does that, too, right?"  
Hilda nodded, "Yeah, maybe. Let's go see if anybody's here. I don't guess they close the building during the week or anything. At least, I hope not. Surely somebody can tell us if the guy's here or not."  
Amanda looked at Hilda, and put a hand on her arm, "Don't worry, Hilda. We're going to find Betty. I know we are. I mean, she's too nice a person for anything bad to happen to. Plus, you know the guys will find out something. Daniel is not going to leave here without finding her."  
Hilda bit her bottom lip, gripping the steering wheel. "Amanda, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Do you think…Daniel and Betty are…"  
"in love? Yeah, totally. He's nuts about her. She's crazy about him, too. That's one reason I know he's going to find her. He'd do anything for your sister, Hilda."  
She mumbled under her breath, "and anything TO her, too."  
"Huh?"  
"Nothing, I guess so. He does care a lot about her. I know she's always running off to 'help' him the minute he calls. Which is ALL the time. It's always, 'I gotta go. Daniel needs me."  
Amanda laughed.  
"What's so funny?"  
"Oh, sorry. I just was laughing at you, imitating Betty. I thought only Marc and I did that. Look, Hilda, you know Daniel really loves Betty. It's just so obvious to everybody at Mode. Mark is always calling them lovers. People were always putting them together. Look at the thing that happened with Matt."  
"You mean, when he left to go to Africa?"  
"No, I wasn't surprised that he left at all. Although, why he would decide to go to Africa, I have no idea. I don't even think there are stores there, are there? Actually, I meant when Daniel punched him. That pretty much convinced even the last few people at Mode that had doubts that they are in love with each other."  
"So, do you think they're…uh, doing anything about it?"  
"You mean…like Matt said? Sleeping together? No. Not yet, anyway; they're both too stupid to know they're in love with each other. Plus, I'm sure I would know about it if they were. Daniel's very easy to read and so is Betty. They aren't very good at being sneaky."  
Hilda narrowed her eyes, "I don't know about that, Amanda. They might be…uh acting like they're just friends, when they're really already way beyond that. I mean, it's possible, right?"  
She shrugged, checking her make-up. "I guess. I just don't see Betty as the type to lie and sneak around. Me, yes. But not her. She's pretty innocent."  
Hilda shook her head, as she got out of the car and they headed inside to find Pastor Cardines. "I used to think so. I'm beginning to think she and I are a lot more alike than I realized, though."  
"Huh?"  
"Never mind. Let's just see if this guy can help us."  
Hilda noticed a man sweeping between the pews, "Excuse me sir, but can you tell me if there is a man here; Pastor Allen Cardines? Do you know him?"  
"A little bit. Who wants to know?"  
"We do." Amanda looked at the man, thinking he could use a good shopping spree. He was dressed in jeans, and a tee shirt that were both well-worn. He was in need of a good haircut and shave, too. She could see potential, though. He was probably only in his late thirties, but looked as though he had lived a life well beyond his chronological age.  
He looked at the two women with a mixture of curiosity and compassion. He seemed to sense they had been through heartbreak. He had learned to have a sixth sense for picking up on it. It was as if he could smell their fear and desperation. He put down the broom, and motioned for them to sit down on one of the pews.  
"I'm Allen. What can I do for you, sistahs?"  
"Oh, we're not really religious, Pastor. We're looking for someone. A friend of mine. I'm Amanda, and it's her sister that's missing. We were hoping you could help us."  
"I'm so sorry." He looked at Hilda with such deep empathy, she felt how much he seemed to understand her pain and concern. She looked at him, as he put a hand on top of hers, and tried to hold back the tears.  
She didn't have time to get upset. That wouldn't bring back Betty. Hilda had learned a long time ago, crying didn't change things. It hadn't helped her to cry when she first found out she was a pregnant teen. It hadn't helped when she lost her mother. It hadn't brought Santos back after he was killed. And it sure as hell wasn't going to help her find Betty.  
She moved her hand away, but smiled. "Thank you." She took out a recent picture of Betty and showed it to him. "Pretty girl. What's her name, again?"  
"Betty. Betty Suarez. She works for Mode magazine and was here, covering the Disney cruise line fashion show this week. She also brought me and Amanda along. It was my batchelorette party. I'm getting married next month. But, two nights ago, she disappeared. We've been staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki. She had one drink, then said she was going back to her room to finish up her story, because we were supposed to go home the next night.  
But…she never made it back to her room. She was kidnapped. The police showed us the footage of her just getting into some car. Then, later, two guys got out of the car, and took off for the Big Island and the car with her in it took off, somewhere and the police haven't been able to trace it."  
"I feel your pain, Miss Suarez. My little sister went missing about ten years ago. We…didn't find her for almost a year. She just vanished. Do you know what the drink was that your sister had?"  
"No, not really. It was one of those ones they make in the pineapple. She said she thought they were so fancy, they made her feel like she was really on vacation in paradise. My sister's not much of a drinker, so one was plenty for her."  
"Do you know if it was called a zombie?"  
"Maybe, I know it had lots of juice, and rum, I think. Wait, I didn't make the connection, but Daniel said we should ask you about her being slipped something or about her acting like a zombie. Is that what happened, do you think someone doctored her drink, and that's why she got into the car?"  
The man shrugged, nodding his head, but trying to be gentle with Hilda. He didn't want to tell her what had happened to his sister. He didn't want to upset her further. He could tell she was having a hard time keeping it together. But she had to have facts, if she was going to have a better outcome with getting back this Betty of hers than he had found with his beloved Lili.  
"Listen, Miss Suarez…"  
"I'm Hilda."  
"Hilda, I think you should know, there's some bad men on the island who do things to pretty girls like you and your friend here, or your sister. You two need to be careful, too. Sometimes, they give girls stuff in their food or drinks."  
Hilda looked at the piece of paper Daniel had given her from his research, "Do you think they gave her that drug, the one that makes them do things without remembering, scopolamine?"  
He took the paper from her and read some of the effects of the hallucinogen. He wished he didn't know it so well, "Yeah. I'm afraid so. It makes people commit crimes, or even allow themselves to be party to…acts against themselves. They seem to be acting on their own free will, but they have no idea what's going on. They don't remember anything afterwards. It makes them…like zombies."  
He could see the panic and fear on both of the women's faces. "I'm sorry. Look, I started a program after my sister died in her honor to try and stop the men that were doing this stuff. It's grassroots , so far, but…"  
Hilda held up the Aloha card Daniel had gotten from Captain Sukki. "You mean this Aloha stuff?"  
He smiled, and reached for his card. "Yeah. It's sort of a thing my sister and I had been working on in our church before she disappeared. I'm trying to get it going at schools, keeping kids away from drugs, particularly Meth. It's been a growing problem here.  
My program might seem small in comparison to the problem. But, even if this idea keeps one kid from going out there, looking for drugs, it might slow down the demand for them and cut these guys off at their source. If they got no demand for drugs, they might stop hurting innocent girls and killing people to bring more of that poison here to our kids."  
Hilda looked at him, skeptically, "I'm sorry. I know you guys here really get into your 'aloha' stuff. Aloha means hello, and goodbye, and love and all that tourist crap. But…"  
"It's hard to explain to someone from the mainland, Hilda. But, aloha means so many things. It's sort of the spirit of the island. You heard about the Duke, right? You know, the big statue in front of Waikiki beach. The one that we put all the leis on his arm?"  
She nodded, "Yeah, Betty told us all about that. How he started the thing with being welcoming and kind to people and the 'spirit of aloha', yadda, yadda. I'm sorry, it sounds nice, I guess. But you really think passing around a bunch of cards with nice words are going to stop people from buying and selling drugs? I guess growing up in Queens has made me a little less…believing."  
He nodded. He had heard the same thing from police and other community leaders. But he had also seen the faces of some of the kids at Waianae and Nanakuli High School. At Makaha, too. Some of the 'toughest' schools on the island.  
He had had some of those same kids hug him and tell him with tears in their eyes that they had watched their own parents, or older siblings mess up their lives with Meth and they weren't going to let that happen to them. They promised him they would follow the ideas behind his cards and live them, and that they wouldn't get caught up in the life that their loved ones had gotten into.  
He calmly read the first line of the card. "Okay, I know what you mean, sistah. But just TRY doing the first thing on this card, okay? The seed I want you to plant is forgiveness. I put it as the first seed, because it's the most important one to start with and the hardest. We all got stuff we need to forgive. Forgive other people who hurt us, sometimes forgive ourselves for things we did or even didn't do, didn't say to the ones we loved. The fruit of that seed is unity.  
That means, being one, being a UNIT, working together, and once you do that, you harvest the joy."  
Hilda seemed impatient. "I promise. I'll forgive somebody. Look, I take it you don't know Betty…"  
"I didn't say that. I remember talking to her. She was a cute, feisty little thing. I liked her a lot. She bought into my 'crap' a lot more than you seem to. But, she was also kind of uh…nosey. I told her to be careful. She might step on some toes. Some people, don't want you asking their business."  
"Like, who, for instance?"  
"Like…Tony Martin."  
"Who's Tony Martin?"  
"He's a big guy here on the island that supplies drugs to kids. He also runs a club in town. He owns…everything. He is a guy you don't mess around with, I'm afraid. Not if you have to live here and want to stay living."  
Hilda looked horrified, "You mean, Betty was talking to that guy?"  
"No. But, she may have found out from someone else who he was. But it wasn't me. I could tell she was a little too curious for her own good and I just told her my story about my sister and my aloha cards and school outreach program and sent her on her way. The only reason I'm giving you his name now is I'm worried she talked to the wrong people who had big mouths and got herself in trouble.  
Look, you go talk to these local people. They're on different parts of the island, but tell them I sent you and that you're looking for your sister. They might know something that's going on that could help you find her. Do you know who the guys were in the car with her?"  
Amanda looked at the paper she had, and tried to read the names of the two men the guys had gone to question. The Pastor nodded, "Yeah, I know those two. They aren't all that bright. The police have them?"  
"Well, yeah. Our boyfriends are there on the Big Island right now, trying to find out what they know right now. But, I think the police plan on bringing them back to Oahu."  
"Your friends are there on the Big Island trying to talk to Tapu and Matui?"  
"Yeah."  
He looked panicked, "Well, stop them. If those guys give up Tony, he'll be out for revenge for them ratting him out. He'll very likely do something drastic to shut them up and your friends could get hurt!" He got up and Hilda and Amanda followed him to his office. He called the Honolulu police.  
"You said it was Captain Sukki on your sister's case?"  
"Yeah." Hilda was biting her lip, wondering what they had all gotten themselves involved in here. Especially Betty! God, she so wanted to see her little sister right now, so she could yell at her for butting her nose into stuff where it didn't belong.  
Then, she was going to yell at Daniel for all that dirty stuff he was doing with her that she had read about on Betty's computer earlier. She had no idea Betty was into stuff like that! The girl always seemed so innocent.  
Although, she had recently found out from Amanda on this trip when they were drinking that Betty admitted to her about having some pretty intense fantasies about Bobby. Ripping his shirt off and kissing him. That had made Hilda laugh. It also explained her catching Betty kissing Bobby in the hallway that time. She wasn't jealous, though.  
It was nothing like the stuff she was into with Daniel, though,apparently! It made sense, she thought, the guy was a walking ad for condoms. She was upset to think he had been defiling her sweet, baby sister all these years, right under everyone's nose (even hers).  
Although, she had to admit, it did take two to tango. It wasn't like Betty hadn't agreed to having lots of dirty sex with her former boss. (Apparently, while he was still her boss, too, which sort of shocked Hilda). But, there were plenty of incidents Betty had written about with the two of them, alone in his office at night, that were pretty intense.  
She still blamed Daniel, though. The guy must have used his charms to turn her sister into some kind of sex pervert, doing stuff with him, experimenting or whatever. Typical, big, rich, good-looking guy thought he could just have his way with his little assistant, and it sounded like he definitely did, too!  
The Pastor talked to Captain Sukki for a few minutes, then told the girls. "He said the two guys should be coming back here within the hour. So, call your friends and have them get back here, right away. Tell them not to get involved. Let the police handle it."  
Hilda shook her head, "But, Pastor, that doesn't make any sense. Daniel said Captain Sukki himself sort of gave him these guys' names. Why would he do that if we are in danger by talking to them?"  
"I don't know. He didn't tell me he had done that. The only thing I can think of is that he got a tip from someone that the guys already had a hit on them and might not make it back here before Tony got to them first. In that case, I hope your friends did get something out of them, at least. But tell them to lay low over there on the Big Island for a day, at least. Let me see if I can email Po'ana or something. Someone must have been standing there, listening to him, so he couldn't tell me what was really going on."  
"Po'ana?"  
"Sorry, that's Captain Sukki's first name. We went to Waianae High School together. I've known the guy since he was fourteen. He moved here with his folks from Japan. I protected him from the tougher kids back then. Hoale's get a hard time when they first come to schools here on the island from the Lo Lo's."  
"Hoale? Captain Sukki? Isn't he Hawaiian, too?"  
He shrugged, "Not really. He was born in Japan. He's kama'aina, now, of course. He's only left the island twice since he first moved here. Once, for his sister's wedding, to give her away. And once, a year before that, when his dad died.  
Listen, let me talk to your friends. I need to warn them how to keep a low profile there. I'll get some of my friends here to go pick them up and bring them back here safely, out of Tony's reach. What's your friend's name? Daniel? He's your sister's boyfriend or something?"  
"No. Not really. He's just her friend. He used to be her boss." Hilda bit her lip, wondering at her own words as she said them.  
He furrowed his brows. He was sensing some question from Hilda as to her sister's relationship with this Daniel guy. He heard a low voice, "Hello? Hilda? I think we really need to talk. But, before you start yelling at me, just listen, first, okay? Yeah, I uh…did do those things you read about with Betty. But, you should know, I love her. She just didn't want to tell people about us while she worked for me."  
"Well, that's really great, brah. Congratulations to you both. But, I think we should try and find her first, don't you? Sorry, I take it this is Daniel? Look, brah, sorry about the confusion. This is Pastor Cardines in Nanakuli. I just talked to your friends Hilda and Amanda here and found out you were there, trying to shake down Taavili and Jason?  
You need to be very careful. Those two are in some big trouble with some really bad criminals here and I don't think they'll make it back to Oahu. From what I hear, they got a one way ticket to nowhere. Did you find out anything from them? Did they tell you anything about who they were working for? A guy named Tony, maybe?"  
"No. They didn't say anything about anyone named Tony. Sorry, Pastor, about what I said to you before…"  
"I don't think now's the time for that. You can talk to Hilda about whatever you were saying later. Right now, I'm trying to save your life and maybe Betty's. What name did they give you?"  
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Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Forgiveness, Unity, and Joy  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 11: Forgiveness, Unity and Joy  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
Daniel lay down on the bed at the hotel the pastor had told them to go to to wait for some of his local friends to come and escort them safely back to Oahu, to protect them from this Tony guy he seemed so worried about. The guy seemed nice enough on the phone, but had scared the crap out of Daniel (and apparently Hilda and Amanda, too).  
He wished he had made sure it was actually Hilda calling before he blurted out his little 'confession' like that earlier. But it was her phone, so he of course, assumed it would be her calling and he wanted to get that out before she had a chance to berate him. He could only imagine what the pastor must be thinking about him now. He had seemed mildly amused, but not overly curious, since he was more concerned about keeping them all safe from this Tony Martin, some island mob guy, it sounded like.  
He relaxed, closing his eyes, and drifting off. He was so beyond tired now, he felt like he was floating.  
"Why did you tell Hilda that? Or actually, tell Pastor Cardines that? Why did you 'confess' to a crime you didn't commit? To protect me? My precious reputation? That was sweet, Daniel. But you didn't have to do that. I'm a big girl. I can answer for my own sins.  
I'm not ashamed of what I thought. Or even wrote. I do wish you hadn't read it. And I really wish you would have erased it once you did instead of letting Hilda find it. But not because I regret it, necessarily. I would have told you how I felt. Eventually."  
He smiled, "When, after we were ninety? Betty, you've known me for over four years. How could you not tell me that was how you felt? I don't understand, honey."  
She sat on the very edge of the foot of the bed, as he propped himself up on one arm.  
She raised one eyebrow, laughing softly, "Oh, so it's honey, now? Yeah, I liked the way you told those guys I was your honey girl and yelled at Matui about them helping to kidnap your girlfriend. That was…sweet."  
He shrugged, looking down at the mattress, "I just thought it sounded more convincing. I was trying to do what Bobby said and use my anger and worry about you to sound tough is all."  
"So, I'm not really your honey girl?" She grinned at him.  
He smirked and crooked his finger for her to come closer as he leaned down towards her.  
She looked somewhat surprised, "Mr. Meade, are you trying to seduce me?"  
He shook his head, "Very funny. I want to feel what it's like to kiss you."  
"Why now? I thought you had decided you didn't want to kiss me until I'm really back?"  
He leaned back, furrowing his brows, "How did you know I was thinking that? Can you read my mind or something?"  
She nodded, giving him her 'no duh' look he hated, "Well, since that's kind of where I'm coming from, it's not like there's all THAT much going on in there."  
He laughed, "God, I miss you, Betty. Come here."  
"Are you sure? What about what you thought before? Don't you want to wait until I'm really here?"  
"Well, I'm definitely not going anywhere as far as any of your inventive little ideas, Miss sexy girl. I just would like to know what it feels like to kiss you. I mean, we've been so close all this time, working together, talking about really personal stuff, and all we've been through and yet, we've never kissed. We've never REALLY done anything. Don't you think that's crazy? How is it possible we've only ever hugged? I wasn't lying when I said I loved you, Betty. I do, you know. I think I have for a while now. I just…didn't know how you felt and didn't really realize how much you meant to me until you…"  
"Was gone?"  
He pulled her towards him and looked into her eyes, "You're not, though. Are you? Please tell me, you're not gone, Betty. Do you think this Pastor guy can help us find you?"  
"Maybe. He's a smart guy. He knows the island. What about what those guys told you?"  
"I don't know how helpful it will be. All they said was that they got hired by someone off the island. They gave us a name, but I don't know who it is. Do you?" He quickly grabbed a piece of paper from the night stand to show her. She read it, "George Markus? Never heard of him." She shook her head. "They said that's who hired them?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. I guess it could be an alias, though. The other guys in the car, the ones who must still have you are local guys, too. They said they never met them before, though. They didn't know their last names, of course.  
So, all we have are rough descriptions and first names. The pastor is checking his contacts to see what he can find out about them. He was still kind of freaked out about that local mob guy, though. That's why he had us come to this hotel, an older one, that's not as likely to pop up on the radar and made us all disguise ourselves and register under fake names.  
That Tony Martin sounds really scary. I'm glad you weren't taken by him. I think he must be the one who took Pastor Cardines' sister and got her involved in some pretty terrible stuff, then when she tried to break away…well, it didn't turn out good, I guess. He didn't really want to talk about it. He just said his anti-drug program was in honor of her."  
She nodded, "I know. He told me about her. It's so sad. You know, I still don't remember what happened that night, Daniel. I don't know why I can't remember anything.  
But, I do know that where I am now has lots of mountains and there's a beach, really close, because I can hear it. There are a lot of military guys, because I saw some guys in uniforms."  
He sighed, "Well, thanks, Betty. I'm incredibly happy to know that you're alive. But, I don't know how helpful that's going to be, I'm afraid. I mean, in case you haven't noticed, there are mountains all around, everywhere here, and it's an island, so there's beach all around, too, and they've got every kind of military base there is, I think! Do you know what kind of uniforms? Are they white, like the navy ones, air force, army, marines?"  
She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Daniel. I don't know for sure. I can't really see very well. I'm in a room that I can't get out of. I can't move around. I'm just looking out through cracks in a wall. I feel like I just woke up. Like I've been sleeping.  
If you talk to the people the Pastor knows, they should be able to help you, though. I'm sure you're going to find me. I have hope, now. Thanks to you. You've always been good at giving me that, though." She got up and sat next to him. He was sitting up, now, with his legs stretched out on the bed and his body leaning against the headboard. He scooted over to allow her to sit closer.  
She picked up his hand as he looked down at hers. "So, about that kiss. Like I said, are you sure?" He didn't answer, but held her by her arms and pulled her to him, for a quick, sweet kiss. As they parted, she looked up at him, "Nice."  
"Nice? That's all? Gee, thanks."  
She shrugged, then got up, "I think I'd better leave, before you get all frisky on me, Daniel. I know you'd regret it if we acted out one of my fantasies right now. I already got my first kiss from you when you thought I was your dead wife. Now, you think I'm your dead pretend girlfriend."  
"No, I don't. I know you're not…gone. But, nice, is seriously all I get?" he seemed offended.  
She laughed, "Go take another cold shower, Daniel. Then, get some sleep, honey. You look terrible. Then, tomorrow, you and your hot guy group can pick up the search."  
He laughed, "My hot guy group? What are we, the backstreet boys?"  
She giggled and opened the shutters. "Well, I'm not sure how well you sing together, but you three looked pretty good roughing up those guys earlier. I was really proud of you all. I think it's great how you're working together to find me. Thanks." She went back and kissed his cheek, then put the back of her hand on it. He closed his eyes, relishing the feeling. Then she was gone, and he was alone again. He finally drifted off to sleep.  
The next morning, he woke to his phone ringing. He rubbed his eyes, and answered it, groggily, his voice still hoarse, "Hello?"  
"I forgive you, Daniel."  
"Sorry?"  
"This is Hilda. I…forgive you for uh that stuff you did with Betty. I guess you really do love her, right? I mean, if you were just using her for sex, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be so upset. I know you're going to find help me find her."  
He sat up, still rubbing his eyes, but he managed to say softly, "Yeah, of course I love her, Hilda.  
She cleared her throat, "Yeah, well, anyway, Betty's a grown woman. She can do whatever she wants, I suppose. It's really not my business. It's between you and her. She uh…seemed like she did those things willingly. So, I'm sorry for what I was thinking about doing to your cajones."  
He smiled, "Thanks. I'm glad you forgive me. I'm rather attached to my uh…cajones. What made you change your mind?"  
"The pastor. He told me to try those cards of his. The first 'seed' is forgiveness. Then the fruit is unity, then the harvest is joy. So, I'm giving it a try. I figure, if I forgive you, and we work together as a unit, hopefully, we will find her soon.  
That'll definitely give us all a lot of joy. I'm willing to try anything at this point. It's better than lighting a bunch of candles, I guess. I just need to actually DO SOMETHING! All this waiting around and worrying is driving me crazy. I finally got a little sleep last night. Sorry, did I wake you?"  
"Yeah, I actually fell asleep last night. I'm relieved that the guys here said it wasn't that Tony guy who hired them. The pastor makes him sound like a really bad guy to cross. His friends are supposed to be here soon to be our bodyguards back to Oahu. He said he was having you two stay with some of his friends so you were safe, too?"  
"Yeah. They're nice. They made us some God-awful rice and fish mess for dinner last night. The pudding was good, at least. Some custardy, coconut stuff, called haupia. Well, anyway, I'm going to call Bobby, now. I just wanted to say that. No uh...hard feelings. I want us all to work together to find her."  
"I appreciate it, Hilda. I want you to know, I'm going to find her, no matter what it takes. I'm not going to give up until we do. You have my word. I know we're going to find her. I swear; I can almost feel her; I know we're close, somehow."  
She sounded as if she were trying not to cry, "I hope so. Goodbye, Daniel. I'll see you later."  
________________________________________  
Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Strength in Numbers  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 12: Strength in Numbers  
As soon as Daniel saw the two men Pastor Cardines had sent to escort them back to Oahu, he felt overwhelmed, and very small. They were both huge. The slightly older of the two, Topi, was easily six five and weighed close to three hundred and fifty pounds, Daniel estimated. There was a lot of muscle in there…somewhere.  
The younger and relatively smaller of the two, Maalu, was closer to six foot, three inches and 'only' weighed around two seventy, perhaps. He looked like (and according to the Pastor, was in fact, a football player for the Hawaiian Warriors). They both looked like 'warriors' that was for sure.  
Daniel spoke to Maalu (so he wouldn't need a step ladder), "Hey! You guys must be the 'Makaha boys' the Pastor told me about."  
"Yeah, you Daniel, brah?"  
"Yeah. Good to meet you both. Thanks for this." He offered his hand, hoping he would get it back in one piece.  
"Sure, brah. Pastor say you and you two brahs goin back to Nanakuli today. You need somebody watch you back, eh?"  
"Yeah, I guess so. The pastor seemed sort of worried that we might be in some kind of danger from that Tony Martin guy, the mob boss or whatever he is. I assume you know who he is?"  
The two men looked at each other, exchanging serious glances, "Everybody hea know Tony. You no wanna mess around wif him. He the big kahuna on all the islands."  
"So, he's in charge of…drugs, prostitution, gambling and that kind of thing, is that right?"  
The larger man, Topi, folded his arms across his chest and nodded, "Tony the big kahuna over ALL them kine thing. Don't nobody do nothin on the islands he don't know about it, brah."  
Daniel's heart fell at first. "You don't think my um… girlfriend asked the wrong questions and he took her, do you?"  
The two men exchanged sympathetic glances that made Daniel a bit nervous, and the larger man spoke again, in a softer, gentler tone, "As long as she not tryin to make money off a him or do nothing what gonna cause him no trouble, he likely no bother wif huh. I hea them boys what was wif huh in da car say they no work for Tony, eh? Some haole is what hired em. So, that good news."  
His friend shrugged, sounding somewhat less encouraging, "Depend on the haole, don't it?"  
Tyler and Bobby called, to see if their 'escorts' had arrived and knocked on Daniel's door shortly afterward. When they saw the two men, they both looked at one another and Daniel, with their eyes popped. Bobby grinned, "Man, that poi grows some big boys, don't it?"  
He and Tyler introduced themselves and they all decided they had enough time to get some early lunch before they left. The hotel they were in was a bit older, but had been luxurious in its time and remnants of its opulence were still evident. There was a small, but nice pool, overlooking the ocean, and a poolside bar on a large deck to the side, where the first Mai Tais were reported to have been served.  
Just beyond the bar was the hotel's four-star restaurant. The food, although not quite to Daniel's high standards of excellence was very good, and the 'boys' lived up to their image, eating quite heartily. Tyler kept up with them, almost seeming to be competing.  
Bobby and Daniel both shared amused glances, Bobby leaned over to Daniel, "Hey, I guess your brah's still a 'growing boy', huh? Looks like he's got the metabolism to go with it. He is pretty tall. No wonder those two guys are frickin trees! Did they eat out the whole restaurant?"  
Daniel replied, smiling, "Looks like it. Yeah, Tyler makes me sick sometimes. Must be nice. I miss those days. Getting older sucks."  
"Tell me about it. Now that Justin's my kid, it just makes me feel even older. I mean, Hilda was just a kid herself when she had him, so…"  
Daniel nodded, "I know what you mean. The minute I met DJ, I immediately felt like I had aged ten years. Once I found out he was my nephew, I tried to go back to partying like I had been, but it never felt the same. It was like it aged me overnight or something. Sort of like this, I guess."  
Bobby slapped Daniel on the back, "Hang in there, man. We're going to find her soon. I've got a really good feeling. I don't know how, but I just sense she's alive and that we're going to be able to help her, wherever she is, Daniel."  
He nodded, trying to hide his glistening eyes, "I know what you mean. I keep feeling like she's right here, talking to me and doing what she always does, giving ME pep talks, encouraging me."  
Bobby looked at him strangely, narrowing his eyes, "Really? Me, too. I swear I keep seeing her, telling us we're going to find her."  
Daniel looked at him, "Is she wearing a blue bikini?"  
Bobby's eyebrows shot up, "Huh? Uh, no. But…hey, whatever gets you through the night, Daniel. I uh…heard you tell those guys yesterday she was your girlfriend. Is that true? Were you two...together? I thought you told us all before there was nothing going on between you, though."  
Daniel took a shaky breath, uncertain what to say. He wanted to be honest with Bobby. They had started to forge a bond, working together to look for Betty. He hated to mess that up with lies, but on the other hand, he had 'confessed' to doing those things with Betty to Hilda. She was Bobby's wife. So, there was no way they wouldn't be comparing notes. Whatever he said to one of them, he had to say to the other. So, he nodded, taking a drink of iced tea, and avoiding Bobby's eyes.  
"Well, actually, yeah. We were. Are. She was just afraid to let anybody know, since we worked together. So, we didn't tell anybody. But, we've been sort of…hanging out for a while now."  
"Hanging out? You mean…hooking up? You and Betty? Really?" Bobby seemed surprised to hear it.  
Daniel felt he needed to defend his lie. He knit his brows, "Yeah. Really. What's so hard to believe? Betty's an amazing woman. Any guy would be lucky to be with her. I…well, I guess I'm in love with her. I never really thought about it that much until she was gone, though. You know? How you don't appreciate what you have until you don't have it anymore? I think I really do love her. I know I can't even consider losing her, that's for sure."  
Bobby looked at him strangely, then nodded his head, indicating he believed him, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I thought I'd lost Hilda for years. Then, when I first saw her again, she was with some other guy. I knew, though, after we uh…got together, that she was going to be mine. Hilda ain't the type to just sleep with some guy she's not in love with, you know?  
Betty's the same way. She must love you, too. You're a lucky man, Daniel. Chipmunk's a class act. She's good people. She sure was a pain in the ass when we were younger, and I wanted to get with Hilda, though! Man, I wanted to scream at her when she was a little kid, getting in between me and her sister all the time like that. It was funny, I found out she actually had a little schoolgirl crush on me back then, though. So, I guess that's why she did that."  
Daniel looked at Bobby, "Really? She did? Huh, she never told me that."  
Bobby smirked, "Yeah, she kissed me, too. In the hallway of her high school."  
"When she was in high school?"  
"No. Last year. So, I guess we've both sort of had a little action with the other guys' girl, huh?" he grinned, showing those dumb ass dimples again.  
"Betty kissed you last year? Why? Uh, didn't she and Hilda fight about it or something?"  
He shrugged, taking a bite out of his burger. "Maybe. It was nothing. No need to get all jealous. It was sweet. And as far as Hilda and Betty, they fight all the time, but then they always make up. They fought like cats and dogs after their dad had his heart attack, but now they're tight. You know, it's this special bond sisters have, I guess."  
Daniel still seemed to be deep in thought. "Let's get going. We should be getting to the airport. I'll get the check."  
Bobby nodded, "Hey, good thing you're rich. Those guys ate half the stuff on the menu, I think."  
Daniel glanced at the bill and his eyes shot up, "Yeah. Wow. If I had to feed those three all the time, I don't think I'd be rich for very long."  
Once they were back in Oahu, the 'boys' told them to 'hang loose' until another 'brah' came with a huge truck to drive them to Nanakuli to join the girls and other friends of the pastor.  
Finally, they arrived on the leeward side of the island. The two lane Farrington highway stretched out, with its huge mountain range looming ahead and the ocean to their left. In spite of the many homeless communities that had been driven here, pushed out from Waikiki so as not to scare away the tourists, the beaches and landscape in general was hauntingly beautiful. Not nearly so developed as Honolulu, this side of the island was where the locals lived and some even worked here, too. Although most had to drive into 'the city' to find employment, making the commute worse every year. Once you got onto the H1, traffic stopped, somewhat like New York, but out here, it cleared out, except at peak traffic times. Going to and coming back from work, and picking up their keikis from school.  
There were lots of children here. Lots of families. Many homeless, some in not so nice housing, some in lower middle class homes, some in duplexes and fourplexes. There didn't seem to be many apartment complexes here. One or two remained, left as glaring remnants of a past time when Hawaii was in its height of tourist popularity. There seemed to be quite a few 'hippies' who had come here and been left behind by society.  
They blended right in with the locals, having adapted quite nicely, becoming 'kama'aina' themselves, now a part of this strange melting pot in the middle of the Pacific.  
They were taken to a large home, painted yellow, with white trim. It was spacious, and seemed to have been turned into some kind of commune. There was one woman there, a haole, in her fifties, who was dressed in a loose, flowing skirt and a tie-dyed tee shirt. She wore her long, greying hair in a braid and had her sunglasses up on her head. She squinted as the five men showed up. "Hey, Topi, Maalu. These the strays the pastor told you to keep a eye on? I got some pupus over in the kitchen, if you want some grinds."  
To the three men, she introduced herself, "I'm Sadie. I run this place. The pastor said you three are looking for your friend and sister that disappeared a few days ago?"  
They nodded, shaking her hand and sitting in the large, open living room, while the boys brought food in to the dining room to 'snack on'.  
They looked around. The furnishings were simple, mostly used things that seemed to have been gleaned from garage sales. Comfortable, and extremely casual seemed to be the theme. Just as they began to talk to Sadie, Hilda and Amanda came rushing downstairs, looking somewhat frightened and extremely relieved to see their 'men'. They both hugged them tightly, kissing them as if they had just returned from the war. "Oh, baby, I was afraid I was never going to see you again!"  
Bobby kissed Hilda, happy to see her, and grateful for the affection, but shook his head, and held her face in his hands, "Hey, hey, what's all this about, huh? We're fine. We kicked ass. Hell, even Daniel managed to intimidate those guys. He got a name out of Matui. We found out it wasn't that Tony mob boss guy who took her after all. Which is evidently a really good thing, cause he's obviously very bad news."  
"I know, that's why we were so worried about you guys. We were scared to death that guy was going to rub you out or something. That we'd never see you again. It's been too much, sitting here, worrying about Betty and you. Don't ever leave us behind again! Whatever we do, let's all do together from now on, okay? I've got enough to worry about, wondering about my sister! I couldn't stand to lose my husband!"  
He hugged her tightly, "Aww, baby, you're not going to lose me, I promise. I'm tougher than that."  
Tyler looked at Bobby and Daniel, "Yeah, you should have seen this guy, Hilda! He looked like a cop or something, he had some huge guy by the throat, calling him 'poi boy' and telling him he'd better tell us what we wanted to know. Then, even Daniel was pretty intimidating, too."  
The women both looked surprised.  
"Thanks, what's all this 'even Daniel' shit, huh? What am I, some pansy? I can hang with the big boys. Although, I'm not mister gunslinger, like Billy the Kid Tyler." He teased. Amanda hugged Tyler more.  
"Oh…you were a tough guy, too, huh, baby? Oh, we were both really scared for you guys. I'm so glad you're safe. I agree with Hilda. Don't go leaving us alone again! Let's stick together."  
Daniel looked at Hilda, as she smiled at him, "Glad you're all back, safe and sound."  
He whispered softly, so only she could hear, "I guess you forgiving me got us our unity, huh?"  
She nodded, smiling, "I guess so. You're room's up there, if you need to lie down for a while and rest, Daniel."  
He went to the small, somewhat shabbily furnished bedroom she had indicated, closing the door behind him and dropping his bag, then flopping onto the bed, with his arm over his eyes, trying to relax. He started to drift off, when he felt her, blowing softly in his ear. He 'shoed' her away, "Knock it off. I'm mad at you. You never told me you kissed your hot new brother-in-law. I thought we told each other everything. But then again, I never knew you were a secret sex writer, either, so…I guess there are all sorts of things I never knew about you, huh?"  
She sat up, sighing, and crossed her arms, "Like you told me every little thing you ever did? Believe me, there was plenty of stuff going on in your life, I'd be happy NEVER knowing, Daniel. Besides, the thing with Bobby was perfectly innocent. I admit, I did have a few little fantasies about ripping his clothes off for a while there. But that was before he and Hilda got back together. It was when I did my 'fearless' story."  
"You mean, about the same time you started sneaking around with that Zacchary guy with the nerdy glas…sorry."  
She giggled, "It's fine. Maybe his nerdy glasses were part of the attraction with him. It made him not be so off limits to a fellow nerd, like me."  
"You're not a nerd, Betty. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry. I guess…I was just kind of jealous."  
"Well, don't sound so surprised. That's not very flattering. You were jealous of a lot of guys I liked. In fact, I can't think of a guy that I dated that you didn't hate."  
He smiled, and turned on his side, to face her, running his finger down her arm, "I guess you're right."  
She ran her hand through his hair, "So, any more needs you have tonight? I'm here, so that must mean you wanted to talk to me. What's up? Besides you, that is." She glanced at him and giggled, "Good to know you're happy to see me, Daniel. Or is that a gun in your pants?"  
He rolled his eyes, "Shut up! Don't tease me. I miss you, okay? Can't a guy miss his…pretend missing girlfriend?" He tried to laugh, to relieve the fear and stress he was feeling.  
She stroked his cheek. "Sure he can. And you're doing great, Daniel. Good job with the tough guy act. You three should be undercover cops or something. Why did you lie to Bobby about us, too, though? Afraid he and Hilda will compare notes, huh?"  
He nodded, "Yeah, that, and…I like thinking of you as my girlfriend. I think it might help us find you sooner if I take that role, you know? If I let people think we were really involved, like…in your fantasies, maybe they'll feel sorry for me and help me find you."  
"You might have a point. Are you going to the police with the name Matui gave you?"  
"Yeah." as if on cue, his phone rang and he answered it. "Hey, Captain Sukki. Yeah, we just got back…huh? Wow! Really? Shit! That's…not good. Okay. Thanks. Yeah, actually, they did. Does the name George Markus mean anything to you? He's from the mainland, Matui said. Yeah, okay. I'll tell them. We're with the pastor's friends right now. I'll give everybody the news. We'll be in touch."  
As he got off the phone, Betty looked at him, knowingly, "The Captain was right to let you go talk to them, wasn't he?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. How did you know? Oh, right. Well, then, you uh….know, those guys are dead. They never made it to the airport. The pastor was right, too. Somebody, if not that Tony guy, then maybe this Markus, whoever he is got to them."  
She hugged him, "All I know is, I agree with Amanda and Hilda, you all need to stay together. To keep each other safe from now on. You be careful, Daniel."  
He nodded, holding her next to him, and whispering into her hair, "You, too, Betty. Wherever you are."  
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	3. Patience Produces Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just to clarify, the fact that I list Daniel and Hilda as the main protagonists in this tale, does NOT mean I'm linking them romantically. This is still very much a Detty story, believe me. Eventually, anyway. Daniel just has to wait for 'the real thing'.

Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 13: Patience Produces Peace  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

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Daniel walked up to the wrap around balcony to see the mountains behind the house and the ocean on the other side. It was a great view, he thought.  
There had been some attempts to update the house, paint and flowers in the yard, at least, but mostly, it looked like a leftover from the seventies. There was indoor/outdoor carpeting tacked down onto the wood framed floorboards, and rusted patio furniture outside, next to a barbeque grill in serious need of cleaning.  
The damn roosters were annoying as hell; that was for sure. He saw Amanda sitting outside, with a blanket around her, sipping the Kona coffee she seemed to have embraced since coming to 'the island'. "Hey, Amanda. Did the stupid chickens wake you up, too? I didn't know this was zoned as a farm area. Where are they?"  
She nodded across the street. "Sadie said the house over there has been vacant ever since the explosion and the farm animals have taken it over, I guess. They woke Hilda and me up yesterday, too. I know, can you believe it? The views here look like Hawaii, all pretty and everything, but that…is ridiculous!"  
Daniel looked at the house on the other side of the street. It looked literally as if a bomb had gone off. What was left of the house that once stood there was black and there was the remnant of a garage, with lawn mowers, empty flower pots, garbage cans, and various other items strewn haphazardly across the yard. It looked like a war zone, with chickens, he thought.  
Daniel furrowed his brows, "What kind of explosion did they have over there, anyway? Did somebody actually set off a bomb? Don't tell me that Tony guy is blowing up people's houses. Jesus, what the hell happened? That place looks like World War II or something, mixed with Old MacDonald's Farm."  
She shrugged, "Sadie and that Chris guy who brought us here said whoever used to live there was always messing around with cars, fixing them up and stuff and the cops are claiming he accidentally blew himself up, having some kind of gas container that mixed with a cigarette and set it off. But from the looks Sadie and Chris were giving each other, I don't think they believe it.  
They seemed really scared about you guys. Hilda and I overheard them talking and they were afraid you were all going to get killed if you talked to those stupid guys in the car. I still don't understand why you couldn't just let the police talk to them. I was scared to death I'd never see Tyler again. Now, he wants to get a gun. He says he felt safer having one."  
Daniel sat down, and put his hand on top of hers, "Amanda, listen to me. I don't want to scare you or anything, but…Tyler says he's pretty good with a gun, so I think he might be right. We may go ahead and get him one while we're here."  
"Daniel, I know that look. What are you not telling me?"  
"I got a call from Captain Sukki last night. It turns out, it's a good thing we questioned those two when we did."  
"What do you mean?" She looked at him as if she already knew the answer.  
"They…didn't make it to the airport. The police came to take them to the plane and the guards were all knocked out and the men we questioned were dead."  
Amanda started crying. Daniel hugged her, "Hey, we're okay, Amanda. It happened after we were already back here."  
Tyler came walking upstairs holding a cup of coffee. He looked at Amanda crying, "What's wrong?" he asked Daniel.  
Daniel motioned for him to come hold her. "I just told her that Captain Sukki called me last night to tell me Jason and his big friend never made it to the airport yesterday. The guards were knocked out and the police found the two dead."  
"Seriously? Shit!" He stroked Amanda's hair, "Hey, we're okay, baby. Don't cry."  
"I can't believe how much I loved it here when we first came and Betty loved it, too, and now…I hate it! I just want to go back to New York! I want my friend back and I want to not be scared anymore. I can't believe we all thought this place was paradise. Now I wish we'd never come."  
Daniel didn't know what to say to her. He totally understood her frustration. He left it to Tyler to try and calm her down while he set about the unhappy task of filling Hilda and Bobby in on the grim news about the death of Betty's car companions. Hilda saw him starting to come down from the porch as she came out. "Hey, you're up early, Daniel. Did that crazy rooster wake you up, too? It looks like Amanda actually made some of her Kona coffee she likes here. I'm amazed she learned how to make coffee.  
But she really…likes…what's wrong? Is it Betty? You look like you've got bad news, Daniel. Please don't tell me something bad happened to her. They found her…" He sighed, and held her. God, he was really making woman cry left and right this morning!  
"No, it's not Betty, Hilda. The captain called last night and said those two we questioned were killed. The guards were knocked out. I told him the name they gave us of the guy they claimed hired them and he's checking into it."  
She looked at Daniel, "So, what you're saying is…the guy who hired them to kidnap my sister decided they were talking too much so he had them killed. Bobby said they only knew the first names of the ones who kept Betty with them?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. And a pretty vague description. Except, Matui claimed one of the guys, the younger, heavier one had what looked like some kind of tribal tattoo on his arm. You know, one of those that kind of looks like shark's teeth or whatever on his left upper arm and one of Bob Marley on his right calf. So, that's something at least."  
"The pastor gave us the names and addresses of some people he thinks might know the other two men in the car. The ones who took her. It's going to take a couple days, though. They're on opposite sides of the island. Some of the names are on the North Shore, then there are some on the windward side, and the first ones he said we should check out are at the far leeward side, in Makaha."  
"Makaha? Isn't that where our 'boys' were from? The big guys? Man, they were huge! They ate like tanks or something."  
"Yeah. We're going with them. Allen and Sadie both said there are a lot of locals out there and they might not answer questions from a bunch of us haoles. But, once they here from their own friends that we're just trying to get my sister and your uh…girlfriend back, he thinks they'll be more likely to talk to us than to the police. There's a huge homeless community there. They don't usually talk to outsiders or especially to cops. Just like on the mainland, I guess."  
"Okay. Are you alright? I seem to be making girls cry today. I left Amanda up there with Tyler once I told her about the captain's news. Should I get Bobby?"  
She shook her head, "I'm used to dealing with bad news, Daniel. I love Bobby, but…I've been on my own for a long time, don't forget. I loved Santos, too. But, I raised Justin without him for the most part. I was never alone, though. I had papi and Betty to help me.  
She's been like a second mami to that kid. He loves her like she was his mom. So, I told him, he could come tomorrow. We all made up a lie to papi, though. I don't want him coming all the way here with his health and I know he would if we told him the truth.  
We said that Justin is helping me coordinate my wedding and I love it so much here, I decided to get married here. There's one catch, though. Papi didn't want Justin to fly by himself. I mean, I know he's old enough and mature enough, but…"  
Daniel shook his head, "Are you serious? Marc's coming? Hilda, no offense, but, he's just going to slow us down, you know."  
She rolled her eyes, "Okay, maybe Marc isn't exactly your idea of Steve McGarrett or Magnum, PI or whatever it is you three tough men think you're playing at here, Daniel. But, the man's smart. He's a good person, and he's been a great mentor for my son all these years. I know you have, too, and believe me, I'm grateful. But, Marc understands Justin like no one else can. And if the man's smart enough to still stand up to Wilhelmina Slater all these years, I'd say he's pretty damn smart. Not to mention, he and Betty might have seemed to clash, but it was because they respected each other. Betty knew Marc was a big part of why that woman was able to keep you in check. Just like Betty was the only reason your spoiled ass didn't end up getting fired, even from your own family's business."  
He didn't blink, "If you're expecting an argument, you're not going to get one, Hilda. You're right. Betty is the only reason I've still got a job. I know that, believe me. And she's your sister. If you want to have Inspector Clouseau or Charlie Chan or Columbo here, trying to help find Betty, that's your business. I just know, the police aren't going to find her. I think we five are the main ones who can and will. But, I completely understand Justin wanting to help find his aunt and if Marc can help us talk to some people, I say, great, the more the merrier. Anything else?"  
She shook her head, smiling, "No. Never mind."  
"What? What's that look for?"  
"I guess I was just wondering how you got my sister to uh…loosen up so much, that's all! She never told me a lot of stuff. I told her ALL the crazy stuff I did with guys, but she was always so secretive, I had to read her diary to find out anything. But that stuff you two got up to! Uh, kudos!"  
He blushed, slightly, "Uh, I'm really not comfortable talking about this with Betty's sister, Hilda. What Betty and I did in private is between us, okay?"  
"All right, all right. I thought you were known for doing stuff in Central Park, and all over the Meade building. Now you're all of a sudden Mister Discrete? Well, I guess it's a good thing, though. I don't really know if I want it to be common knowledge what you and my sister were up to in 'private'. No offense, but your reputation might hurt Betty's good name by association."  
"Yes, I'm well aware of my reputation. And you're right. That's why Betty and I never let anyone know we were…together. I didn't want her good name to be tarnished. So, let's just keep what you know between us, okay, Hilda?"  
She nodded, "Well, Bobby knows, of course."  
"I know. I told him, no details, just that I…love Betty. Let's just leave it at that, okay? I know we're going to find Betty and I don't want her pissed at me for blabbing about the details of our uh…little love affair to everybody."  
She nodded, "I agree. I definitely don't want Amanda or Marc seeing this. Here. I got one of those thumbnail drives or flash things and put your little love fest on this and erased it from Betty's laptop, in case anybody else needs to look at it to help us find her."  
He took the flash drive carefully, "Thanks, Hilda." He smiled, "Still forgive me…for everything?"  
She nodded, "Well, you're a dirty pervert, Daniel. That's for sure. But, yeah. I still forgive you. I know you must really love my sister."  
"That's true. I really do. I don't think I knew just how much until this happened. I want her back so bad, Hilda. You have no idea. I'm not leaving here unless it's with Betty by my side, I swear to you."  
She nodded, and put her hand on his shoulder, "I believe you, Daniel. Geez, with all that stuff you two were up to, I would HOPE you really love her! I know we're gonna find her. Thanks for saying that, though. It means a lot to me." She turned to go downstairs.  
He nodded, and finished his coffee, looking at the ocean. "Where are you, Betty?"  
After a few minutes, he sat on the lanai, putting his head down, praying they would find her today. He half way expected her to 'appear' to him while he sat outside, but she didn't. So, he reluctantly headed inside as they all got dressed and piled into the huge truck with the 'Makaha Boys' and drove down through the somewhat rural areas past Nanakulu, and through Waianae.  
As they stopped at a local pawn shop on the way, in West Waianae in a small strip mall, the 'boys' asked Tyler, "We hear you want to buy a gun? You know how to handle one?"  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah. I do. I grew up in South Dakota. I learned how to handle a gun when I was twelve. I also learned it was as good as excuse as any to stay sober. One of the few times I drank and held a gun, I nearly killed some poor guy's scarecrow. His wife almost had a heart attack, thinking I was shooting at her husband. I didn't ever tell her, I thought I was."  
While Tyler went with most of the group to purchase a gun, Daniel wandered to a small park, area, next to the high school. Some of the students were surfing. He shook his head, thinking it must be difficult to stay in school, with the call of the ocean right outside.  
He saw a sheltered area, with a few trees and sat at a picnic bench, looking out at the rough surf. She came and sat next to him. "I'm…getting moved today, Daniel."  
"Moved? Where to? Not off the island? They're not flying you back to the mainland somewhere are they, Betty?"  
She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. I just woke up again. I keep falling asleep. I think they're drugging me to keep me from knowing where I am or running away. I know there are a lot of pineapples here."  
He sighed, shaking his head, "Again, sweetie, we're on Hawaii, the whole damn island has pineapples. I need more details. Do you see a guy with some tattoes?"  
She gave him a look, "Well, now YOU'RE going to have to be more specific, Daniel. Everybody here has tattoes, too."  
He nodded, "Yeah. I guess you're right. One of the guys who took you. Did he have one of those shark tooth looking tattoes on his upper left arm and a Bob Marley one on his right calf?"  
She nodded, "Yes."  
"Did the other guy call him Kavika?"  
"YES! Kavika and….something with an M…a hoaole name. Matt, Mark, Mar…"  
"Martin?"  
"YES! Daniel, the other guy called him Marty! He's not a haole, though, He's Tongan or something, I think, maybe. I think they both are. Something like that. They're not from Hawaii, that's for sure. They don't really speak pidgin. Or if they do, it's even harder for me to understand. I don't know what it is they're saying. It's really strange sounding."  
"Tongan? Are you sure, Betty?"  
"No. I'm not sure of anything, really. I just know they're definitely not from Hawaii, like the other two guys."  
He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I love you, you know."  
She smiled, "You know this doesn't really count as saying the magic three words, Daniel. You have to say this stuff to the real girl in question, not just to yourself in some park, while you're day dreaming about said girl."  
He laughed, "I know. Believe me, I'll be more than happy to say those three words to 'said girl' in question, Betty. Or Betty's hallucination. Whatever you are. You're the best girlfriend I've ever had. Even in your current form. I can't wait to do some of the stuff on this little baby to the real you, Betty." He held up the flash drive, then put it back in his pocket, quickly.  
She raised her eyebrows, "Have you been reading my file, Daniel? Getting all hot and horny?"  
He laughed, "I sneaked a peek. Hell, you know damn well I did. It's not exactly like I can really 'sneak' anything past you, is it? I still can't believe you actually wrote some of that stuff, Betty. Do I really 'inspire' you that much? I gotta say, it's pretty flattering. Especially the way Hilda was telling me you were always so straight-laced before you met me. I guess I was a bad influence on you, huh? Making you have such a dirty mind."  
She came and sat next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders, and kissing his neck. "As far as SHE knows, I was straight-laced. She just always had a bigger mouth than me, that's all. She told me she used to dream about 'going at it' with some guy in cake batter! See, I'm not the only freak in my family, Daniel. And don't flatter yourself too much. I was always repressed. When you're the ugly girl all through school, fantasy is all you have, believe me. And ugly girls get…frisky, too. We just have less opportunities to act out our fantasies. So, they get more elaborate, I guess."  
He turned to her and looking around, to make sure no one was close enough to see him, he leaned forward to kiss her deeply. She smiled, "What was that for?"  
He whispered, "I just wanted you to know. You've never been the 'ugly girl' as far as I'm concerned, Betty."  
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Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Memories and Madness  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Warning, be prepared for some of Betty's 'Life with D' file. Don't worry, just a quick tease, none of the really 'bad' stuff!  
Chapter 14: Memories and Madness  
Daniel walked into his office and gave me a look that told me he needed me. So, I walked in and closed the door behind me, smiling at him and pulling the curtains shut to face him.  
I looked at him, seeing his eyes, usually bright, were dark and dangerous looking today, so I threw my glasses down, climbing up onto his desk, positioning myself just the way he likes me when he's feeling especially dirty (which, let's face it, was pretty much every day, lately).  
I started to tease him like I usually did, but I saw immediately how ready for me he was, so I took control of him, watching him close his eyes in delight, while he kissed me slow and lingeringly, using one hand to get me…"Damn, Brah! That's some hot sh…who write that stuff? You're girlfriend write that about you?"  
Daniel cleared his throat, and closed out the file he had been 'reading' on his tablet. He pulled out the flash drive and shoved it deep inside his pocket. He hadn't seen the high school boy who had evidently been surfing nearby and come up behind him, to start reading over his shoulder.  
The kid grinned at him, knowingly. Then held out his hand for some kind of complicated hand-shaking, fist bumping procedure he was too old to really understand. He tried to follow along and the young man laughed at his half-hearted attempts.  
He motioned to Daniel's tablet. "That stuff really happen? To you? Lucky guy! Who the wahine? Your girl sounds hot, brah! She not a local girl, eh? She a hoale, too? You a tourist, right? You know, the city's that way, brah. You lost or somethin?"  
"No. I'm not really a tourist. My friends and I are on our way to Makaha."  
"Makaha? What a bunch of hoales doin goin to Makaha? Thea one resort wif golf and stuff thea, I guess. You like it. If you into golf. You wahine what write that stuff wif you today? I wanna meet huh!"  
"Yeah, I want to see her, too. That's why we're headed to Makaha, to talk to some locals about her disappearance last Thursday night. She got kidnapped just outside the Hawaiian Hilton, in front of the statue of The Duke. We're pretty sure somebody slipped her drugs and got her to get into a blue 2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible with a black top that night. They stopped and let out two guys at the airport, then took her somewhere else. The two that got out went to the Big Island and now, they're both dead."  
The boy's eyes grew huge, "Damn, brah! You fo real? You ain't no five-oh?"  
"Five…oh, you mean a cop? God, no. I'm a magazine editor from New York. Betty is an editor who works with me and…yeah, she's my wahine or honey girl or girlfriend, whatever you guys call it over here. I'm with her sister and brother-in-law and some friends and her nephew's on his way, too. We all love and miss her very much. Here's what she looks like." He showed the boy a recent picture of Betty from his phone.  
"She's cute, brah. I don't know nothin, though, sorry. Hope you guys find huh."  
"Okay, but wait, let me ask you, do you know these guys? They are the ones that were with her in the car, and ended up dead last night." He showed him the mug shots of Justin Matui and Taavili Tapu.  
The young man shook his head, then squinted, "That guy look a little familiar, though. The haole. I see him around hea before, I tink, brah. The other guy, I don't know, sorry."  
Daniel nodded, "Thanks, anyway. All I know about the other two guys who took her after these two got out of the car is they are big, too, and not Hawaiians, maybe Tongan? The one's name is Kavika and the other one, Marty, has one of the shark-tooth tattoos on his left arm and a Bob Marley one on his right calf."  
He shook his head, "I don't know anybody like that, brah. But, I might know who do that Bob Marley tattoo. Maybe she can tell you who get it. She the only one I know can do that kine thing. She real good artist."  
"The tattoo artist is a girl?"  
"Shure, why not?"  
Daniel shrugged, "I guess. Do you know her name and where I can find her?"  
"Sure, she Auntie Liz. Liz work in the tattoo place right next to pawn shop at da Bank in da mall."  
"You mean the Bank of America at Waianae Mall, just across the street, down there, across Farrington Highway, right?"  
The boy looked at Daniel, smiling, "Yeah, brah. There ain't no oddah mall hea. Just ask fo Auntie Liz. Tell huh I say hi! She do me real good one, right hea, see?" The boy showed Daniel his tattoo on his left leg. "She like use leg, cause it give huh mo room ta draw du face, eh?"  
"Yeah, that's really good. She's a good artist. Thanks, I'm sorry, what was your name?"  
"Kekoa. It means brave. Like me. I gonna go to college, brah. Be one Hawaiian Warrior."  
"Yeah, One of the guys we're with is on that team. Have you heard of Maalu uh…shit…I think his last name is Kine? Or Kline, maybe?"  
Kekoa laughed, "I don think so, brah. You probably just hea somebody say kine. That mean…" he shrugged, "Whatevah, mean, sorta, kind of…it like when you talk story and you forget what you sayin, and you say, uh…or um…we jus say, kine…like that, understand?"  
Daniel nodded, thinking, sure, it was clear as mud, like most of the 'pidgin' stuff he had heard.  
Suddenly, the young man's eyes grew huge, "Oh, shit! Maalu Davies? That who wif you, brah! Wow, Daniel, right? Daniel, can I get da brah's autograph?"  
Maalu and Topi, along with the rest of Daniel's 'gang' were headed towards him. He smiled, introducing Kekoa to his idol.  
After 'talking story' to everyone for a few minutes, they all left the young man to go bragging to a group of his friends. They had left pictures of Betty with him, and Kekoa took Daniel's card and promised to 'ask around' about Betty and the men she had been seen with when she disappeared.  
Daniel noticed as they got back in the truck, Tyler seemed a little nervous. He teased, "So, are you armed, now, Brah?"  
Tyler nodded, showing him discretely the pistol he had purchased at the pawn shop that he had tucked into his pants. Daniel looked around nervously, "Is that like registered or whatever? Is it legal?"  
Tyler shook his head, "Not really, no. But, I don't think we have any three days for a 'waiting period', do you? Not with guys we talk to ending up dead later the same day after we question them."  
Daniel nodded in agreement. "No, I guess you're right. Are you…comfortable holding that, Tyler?"  
"Yeah, well, I'm a little worried about it not being legal, I guess, but I figure this is one of those situations where you do what you need to do and ask forgiveness later, you know?"  
Daniel agreed, "Yeah, you're right. We need some kind of 'equalizer' dealing with the kine guys we been dealing wif, brah!" he smiled.  
Tyler raised his eyebrows, "What the hell was that? You becoming what do they call it here, Kama'aina, now, BRAH?" he laughed.  
Daniel smiled, "Yeah, brah. Hang loose!" he did his shaka hand, and started to hit Tyler's arm, but Tyler shook his head, menacingly and pointed to the gun, grinning.  
Daniel shook his head, "Shit, don't get pissed off at me, man! I'm your friend, remember, you're brother."  
Tyler raised his eyebrow, teasingly, "I don't know, Daniel. You WERE hugging my girlfriend this morning when I came upstairs. I know you two used to 'hang out'."  
Daniel put his hand up, "Whoa, no way, I handed her off to you. I just made her cry, so I comforted her. Amanda and I are…just strictly friends, now, Tyler. You know that. No more 'fun buddy' crap."  
Tyler laughed, "I know, I'm just yanking your chain, Daniel. There better not be any more of that 'crap' going on. By the way, I hear there's some 'kine' of 'sexy stories' or something of you and Betty that used to be on Betty's lap top? What's up with that?"  
"Nothing. Where did you hear that?"  
He leaned over, whispering. Amanda was asleep, inside the truck, with Hilda. "Amanda told me she heard Hilda talking to Bobby about something she put on a flash drive for you. What the hell is it? It's not a sex video of you and Betty, is it?"  
Daniel made a face, "No, of course not. Don't be stupid. I don't know what Amanda thought she heard, but she heard wrong. I don't have any 'sex tape' of me and Betty."  
Tyler could tell Daniel wasn't being entirely honest, "Sure, Daniel. You are so easy to read, man. You totally squint and raise your eyes funny when you lie, Daniel. I can tell you're lyin right now. So, what is it?"  
Daniel shook his head and 'zipped' his lips, "It's private. That's between me and my…wahine, okay, brah? I don't ask you to tell me about you and Amanda, do I? I'm sure you don't want to know about her and I when we were together. So, let's just forget it."  
Tyler nodded, clearly still a bit curious, "Okay, Daniel. Whatever. Sounds kind of kinky, though. You better hope Marc doesn't get wind of anything. He's relentless. I think he actually has video of me and Amanda. The guy's insane. I think he is just so used to needing to have 'dirt' on everybody, working for Wilhelmina, that he doesn't know how else to act."  
Daniel started to get a little nervous, hoping Marc didn't get his hands on Betty's fantasies. There were some things better left behind closed doors, he thought, smiling at the most recent 'excerpt' from her little 'diary' he had just read earlier. He wondered if he could go to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor or something from what that kid had been reading over his shoulder, while he was too engrossed to notice. (and wondered how fast a reader the kid was).  
Daniel had told them Kekoa's lead about 'Auntie Liz', the tattoe artist who specialized in Bob Marley, particularly on legs, so they backtracked to the 'mall' to see if she could give them more information about 'Marty', at least if he might be Tongan or not. (Daniel hadn't told anyone Betty was the one who suggested that, he let them assume Captain Sukki had).  
They arrived at the mall, seeing a Little Cesar's Pizza franchise, the 'Makaha Boys' looked at, smelling hungrily. Daniel shook his head and handed Tyler some money, "Here, go feed those two, will you? I think it's there two o'clock feeding. Jesus, they're like newborns or something. They have to eat every few hours. Then, maybe they can help us talk to this tattoo lady. She probably won't want to talk to a bunch of us 'haoles' without them."  
Tyler nodded and a few minutes later, came back to the truck, eating happily along with the 'boys', and handing out pizza slices to everyone. "You hungry, Daniel?"  
"Sure. Why not?" He looked around, thinking if only his Betty could see him now, she'd laugh her ass off. Here he was, wearing shorts, and a tee shirt he had been given by Sadie, both of which reeked garage sale, along with sandals, and now he was sitting in the back of a huge truck (Daniel didn't have a clue what make, other than it was a Chevy, maybe? He didn't know cars), and now he was eating cheap pizza in 'said' truck! How the high and mighty had fallen, he thought. He was certainly 'hanging loose'! He didn't care about what he wore, though, or what he ate, or what he rode in, right now, all he really gave a shit about was getting his Betty back.  
His beautiful, crazy, smiling, somewhat perverted, apparently, little Betty, back safe and sound, in his arms. He would have given away half his shares in Meade Publications right now, just for one of 'his' Betty's sweet hugs. Every day he went without actually seeing her face, hearing her voice, touching her, he was growing more and more depressed. It was sick and twisted, perhaps, but the little sex fantasies she had written about him and his daily visions of her were the only things that were keeping him from doing something…not good right now.  
He felt very dark, like he had in his dark days after Molly's death. But then, even as bad as things got with the crazy cult and all that nonsense, he still had that light at the end of his tunnel of darkness, his sweet Betty. Her voice had literally brought him back from the brink then, he remembered, seeing Molly, then suddenly realized, it wasn't Molly at all, but Betty, right there, in his arms, with him kissing her.  
He wished he could somehow snap out of this nightmare, too and wake up, kissing her again, with her safe and warm in his arms, protecting her from anything bad. He hated that he had no idea who had her or what they might do (or have already done).  
He mainly just felt like punching someone. He was glad it was Tyler and not him with the gun right now, because he didn't know if he could trust himself with one at this point. He felt just as angry and frustrated as he had after returning from Thailand. (Or when those morons at the airport had lost some of Molly's ashes).  
Tyler seemed to sense Daniel's despondent mood, and tried to cheer him up, "So, no clues about the sex thing, huh? How about you tell me about the first time you met Betty, then?"  
"The first time?" he laughed, "She ran into a glass door. I was nervous as hell. It was my first day as Editor-in-chief, and I had just started my little speech, then here comes Betty, running into the door. She fell down, blam! I asked if she was alright, then tried to keep going with my speech, but her damn braces were blaring in my face, so instead of shoes, I said 'teeth', then later, after Wilhelmina made me feel like a stupid little two-year old child or something, calling me 'Danny' and shit, Betty came and officially introduced herself.  
I asked who she worked for and she said she worked for me. She looked crazy. She had these wild, bushy eyebrows and some nutty outfit on and that insane poncho. You know the one in the glass case now, over her desk? She actually thought that was stylish on her first day at Mode.  
Yeah, she's sure come a long way. Now, she's cute and sweet and sexy and…God, I miss her."  
________________________________________  
Chapter 15: Chapter 15: HumilityAcceptanceSecurity  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 15: Dishonor/Rejection/Anger vs Humility/Acceptance/Security  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Warning…this gets sort of explicit (in a virtual kind of way).  
At this point, Tyler honestly couldn't picture Daniel ever leaving the island without knowing what had happened to Betty. He fully believed that Daniel would stay here, forever if she were never found. He had never seen a man more focused or determined.  
He watched as Daniel rubbed his eyes and put his hand on the man's back, asking softly, "You okay, Daniel? You get any sleep last night?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. A little, thanks. I slept okay until that damn rooster woke me up. Did you see that place across the street? Looks like they were testing missiles or something. I don't think Sadie or Chris believed the whole 'accident' thing the police told them about the neighbor and how he bought it, from what Amanda told me."  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah, that place was a mess! I agree, it doesn't seem like it was an accident. If the guy had worked on cars his whole life, he would surely know not to have lit cigarettes around combustible fuels. Sadie said she knew the guy for years, he didn't even smoke."  
Daniel looked at Tyler, grinning, "Man, who ARE you? You know that you're a bartender/model from South Dakota transplanted to New York, Tyler. You're not…a cop here. Don't let the gun give you a big head."  
Tyler laughed, "Okay, alright. Look who's talking, mister tough man, leaning on the bad guys to get information, acting all intense and shit! Whatever Bobby told you about finding your 'tough guy chi' or whatever really worked; you had me ready to piss my pants over there, Daniel!"  
He laughed, "Me? Bobby's the tough one, grabbing guys by the throat, like that! You know, Betty told me his family supposedly has real mob connections. I can see it. He's the real badass of our little group."  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah, he is. He doesn't even need a gun to scare people. Hey, wow…look at this place, will you?" They were driving along the two-lane Farrington 'highway' to see homeless tents as far as the eye could see. People had couches and chairs, barbeque grills and coolers, even televisions and refrigerators somehow hooked up to electricity.  
There were kids, running around, people fishing, laughing, having 'luaus', talking to one another just like nothing was wrong. Life went on, apparently. They didn't seem upset to be 'homeless', they just lived their lives. Many had cars, some older and falling apart, some nicer, even some big trucks.  
The two brothers looked at each other, trying to wrap their heads around the reality of this environment. The "Makaha Boys" got out and started 'talking story' to several people, laughing with them. Gradually, Daniel and Tyler joined Hilda, Bobby, and Amanda in getting out of the truck and walking over to their new friends, asking about Betty, and the four 'brahs' she had last been seen with, the two now dead and the two believed to still have her.  
They had learned from 'Aunty Liz' that Marty wasn't Tongan at all. His companion Kavika was, but these people and Liz all confirmed, Marty had come to Hawaii only very recently, looking to make some quick, easy, 'big money' so he could get back to his family.  
"But you don't know wea the brah from, eh?" Maalu asked some of the locals. The all shook their heads.  
"No. Not from the islands, though. He no Tongan, like Kavika. No from Samoa, or any island I tink. Me hear him speak some kine stuff, Kavika learn from his uddah friend, like some shit wif his brah he hang wif, you remembah. Him was in duh army or some shit like dat!"  
"Oh, you mean da guy in duh Air Force, I tink."  
"Great, do you remember his name?"  
Bobby, Tyler, and the girls were somewhat impressed that Daniel seemed to be following their conversation a lot better than they were.  
The large Hawaiian man looked at Daniel, "You not cops, eh?"  
Daniel shook his head, and showed him Betty's picture, his eyes moist, and his voice ragged with emotion, "No, we're not cops. We're her friends and family is all. That's her sister and brother-in-law. Amanda's her close friend, and Tyler's her boyfriend. And I'm…Betty's…my girlfriend. And I'm not leaving this island without her.  
I know she's alive and I have to get her back before Tony Martin or possibly some other guy we don't even know named George Markus from the mainland hurts her or…worse! So far, we have no idea why she was kidnapped.  
I'd pay any ransom if they asked for one, but no one has contacted us about that. All we know is…we HAVE to get her back. So, can you please help us? Any information you can think of that will help us figure out where Kavika and Marty might have taken her; somewhere they might think was safe from the cops? Did Kavika have any friends or family he would go to if he was in trouble, maybe?"  
Bobby, Hilda, Amanda, and Tyler all watched Daniel, impressed with how much he seemed to be communicating so effectively with the locals and appealing to them on a very emotional and personal level.  
Many people living in the community had gathered around as he was talking about Betty and they were all clearly affected by Daniel's heartfelt appeal for his 'wahine'. At first, although the pictures of Betty and the two men that had been killed were passed around, along with word of the two who had taken her; no one seemed to recognize them.  
But, as the group started to leave, somewhat disheartened, with many of the people hugging and kissing Hilda and Daniel, and telling them they would pray for Betty's safe return, an older man with grisled features, and black, coarse hair, streaked with grey, pulled Daniel aside, "Hey, brah, I sorry about you wahine. I don't know wea she is, but I talk to huh once, in the city."  
"You were in Honolulu and you talked to Betty there? Do you remember when?"  
The man thought for a minute. "Tuesday, I tink. I go dea on da bus. She ask me if I tink it worth it to stay hea. I tell huh, wea else I gonna go?" The man smiled a fairly toothless grin.  
Daniel nodded and smiled back, somehow taking a small measure of comfort in recognizing Betty's questions. He was about to leave, but the older man put his hand on Daniel's arm, "I tink I know wea dat Marty come from, brah. He from wea dey got dem elephants and lions and stuff. Kavika always talk about them. You know what I mean, brah?"  
"Elephants and lions? You mean AFRICA? The guy is from Africa? Are you sure?"  
The man nodded, "Yeah, brah. Africa! Dat it!"  
Daniel looked at the man in shock for a moment, then thanked him. He made his way back through the crowd to share what he had learned with the others.  
They gathered quickly and headed back to the house in Nanakuli.  
Daniel was frantically pacing in his room as they all waited while the police were supposed to be calling soon to share what they had learned about the local men believed to possibly still have Betty as well as checking out the new information they had learned in Makaha.  
"Whoa, slow down, Daniel. You're going to wear a hole in the floor. My sister is busy with Bobby on the floor below, and I don't think you want to drop in on them right now. Or maybe you do? I never really asked if you were into four ways. Threeways, definitely, I know I've seen you plenty of times with two or more girls, but another guy? I don't think you're into that at all. You're strictly a ladies' man, right?"  
He ignored her teasing, "Hilarious, Betty. Listen, is what that old guy right…Africa? You couldn't tell the difference between a guy from Tonga and one from Africa, for chrissakeses? They're only a couple of freaking continents apart and the people look nothing alike! The Marty guy is probably some black guy from Mogadishu or something and Kavika can speak to him because he learned the language from his military buddy."  
"Very clever, Daniel. You really should be cops. You could do your own version of Mod Squad. Tyler carries the gun and Bobby questions people and you give them all fashion tips!"  
He wasn't amused at her playful attitude. "What is wrong with you? Don't you want us to find YOU? Stop acting like a silly kid and tell me something that's actually going to help me, will you?"  
She ignored him and started dancing the hula, "I'm ignoring you when you act mean, Daniel." She started dancing around him and putting her hands around his waist from behind, and stuck her head around to kiss his chest.  
He pulled her away, holding her out by her wrists at arms' length, "I'm ignoring YOU, Betty! Stop with the I Dream of Jeanie shit and try to give me some useful information. I don't want you, I want Betty. I want my Betty. The real woman, okay? A little make believe hula girl fantasy version of you just doesn't cut it for me anymore. This is serious stuff."  
She sat down on the bed, discouraged, and looked down, putting her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm not ever good enough for you, Daniel. I thought this was what you wanted. I know I was never what you were looking for before, either. I tried to believe those fantasies I had might come true someday, but I was just fooling myself, I guess. You could always have any girl you wanted, why on earth would you ever want me?"  
He sighed, sitting down behind her, and put his hand on top of hers, "Betty"  
She turned to him, "I'm not really her, remember? Just forget it! You think you're so smart, Magnum, PI, try to figure things out yourself! You don't need me, obviously, I'm not helping you. I didn't say BOTH guys were from Tonga, necessarily.  
Kavika was, wasn't he? I told you I was drugged, here. I'm having a hard time telling the difference between what's reality and what isn't right now. I would think you of all people would understand that, Daniel. I'm not Molly, either. I'm not dead. At least not YET!"  
He looked like he was fighting tears, but he kept his voice low and even, although he couldn't hide his emotion, "Betty, I know you're not Molly. I know she's gone and you're not. Don't you see, that's why I feel like I'm losing my mind here, I can't lose you, too. I just can't. They might as well lock me up in the nut house.  
I wanted her to not be gone, but deep down, I knew she was. But you…you're really out there somewhere, and I have to get you back. But, I'd rather spend all day and night, just having these fantasies of you and trying to live out the stuff you wrote about wanting to do with me, than go back to a 'real life' that didn't include you in some form. I just miss you so bad right now, I can't…think straight anymore. You don't know what your smile did for me everyday, Betty. I lived for it. It made everything seem…"  
"Groovy?" She grinned, then made a serious face, "Sorry. I know, you're being serious now, Daniel. And that's very sweet of you to say. I'm sorry I was being silly before. I know you're trying to find me. You all are. You're doing great, too. I was so proud of you today." She put her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him, "You really touched those people. They'll all be looking for me now. You were amazing today out there. You're starting to get the pidgin a little better, I noticed." She smiled.  
He shrugged, and smiled back at her, "I guess, if I listen closely, I can almost understand it a little now. You were always better at languages than me, though. Even English, miss editor."  
"Hey, you are still the Editor-in-chief, though, Daniel." She teased. "Enjoy reading about our office fun today, sweetie?"  
He gave her a seductive smile and pushed her up onto the bed, lying on top of her, "Care to act out day thirty-four of your journal with me, Miss?"  
She giggled, "Hey, like you said, Master darling, I'm your little Jeanie, right? Your wish is my command."  
He kissed her deeply, feeling himself get lost in her scent. It really did feel like she was right here with him. He let himself get lost in the feel of her smooth, voluptuous body underneath his. He didn't care if he was dreaming. All he knew was, he needed to feel Betty.  
He wanted her more than any woman he had ever been with before. He had to have her, to be with her, to touch her face, to feel her hair, her lips on his right now. He didn't care if she was real or not. He held her tightly against him, sliding his hand between her thighs and smiling wickedly as she gasped in delight, while he kissed her feverishly.  
He nuzzled her neck and saw her closing her eyes and moaning as he continued his exploration of her body. She whispered, "Somebody's being a very nice boy, but don't you need some tending to yourself, sweetie?"  
He nodded, and allowed her to move him onto his back. He closed his eyes as she started kissing her way up his legs, removing his sandals, and shorts, and giggling, "Interesting fashion choices today, Daniel. Very bold!"  
"Look who's talking." He opened one eye, but grinned and continued to enjoy her taking care of him.  
She giggled, but pretended to pout, "Are you making fun of me? Watch what you say now, Daniel. I have you in a very vulnerable position right now."  
He looked down at her, then put his head back, with his hands clasped behind his neck, closing his eyes again "I'm not saying anything right…now… you just keep on doing what you're doing there, oh, God, Betty, babe, yeah, that's…so…uh…great…"  
He almost jumped off the bed when his phone rang. He looked all around and was of course, alone. He shook himself off and sat up, grabbing his phone from the night stand. "Shit!... HELLO!"  
"Hello, Mr. Meade?"  
"Yeah, who's this?"  
"A friend."  
"A friend of whose? Mine?"  
"Yes. But also…Betty's. I know how to help you find her."  
Daniel stood up, "You have my attention."  
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Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Friendship is closer  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 16: Respect/Admiration/Friendship is closer than you think  
Daniel dressed quickly and started yelling for everyone to come on with him to meet this self-declared 'friend' of his and Betty's.  
"Did they tell you their name?" Bobby asked.  
"Yeah. It's some guy in the Air Force. He's stationed at Hickam, but he said he actually lives near Pearl Harbor, with his sister. They're both Hawaiian, or half Hawaiian, or something. I think his dad was ex-military, too, and their mom was a local he met here. His name is Hekili Johnson, and his sister's name is uh…Kailani, I think.  
He said he doesn't know Kavika or Marty, but his sister is the one who supposedly has some important information about Betty. But she didn't tell him the whole story and she said she wants to talk to us. She met Betty in the beginning of the week. She was one of the people Betty interviewed for her story."  
"About the cruise line fashions?" Amanda looked puzzled.  
Hilda shook her head, "No, Daniel means the real story Betty was working on. The one that she must have pissed somebody off about asking too many nosy questions or something."  
"We don't know that, Hilda." Daniel seemed happy and excited, and he didn't want Hilda bringing him down. He was just thrilled to finally have someone willing to talk to them who had actually met Betty and who might very well be able to lead them to her.  
"You, of all people should be pissed about her butting in where her nose didn't belong, I would think, Daniel. I mean, she didn't even tell you about doing this story on her own. I actually saw a file on her computer about how she was planning to try and trick you…"  
"Trick me into publishing her story, and didn't really care about the fashions? Yeah, I know, Hilda. I saw ALL the stuff on her computer, remember?" He gave her a warning look. "I just know she did…does what she loves to do and I'm not going to be mad at her for following her passion.  
I only feel bad that she felt like she had to hide it from me like that. I just wish she would have told me how she really felt. About…a lot of things." He met Hilda's gaze and she looked at him not fully comprehending his meaning.  
He didn't care. He knew Hilda thought what he let her believe, that those things had really happened between her sister and him. He felt like he better understood now how frustrated Betty must have been, not only about the path her career had taken, but about her feelings for him. Part of him wished he could share that with somebody.  
But, he still felt like he would better protect Betty's privacy, and better solicit the help of others in finding her if he let them believe they had been seriously involved. Besides, as soon as they found her, he knew things had to change drastically between them; after all they had both been through, and especially after what he now knew about her feelings.  
He found himself actually getting hopeful about seeing her again, and really being able to talk to her, looking forward to teasing her about her writing. He desperately wanted to make all her dreams come true. Her career, their relationship, everything. He couldn't wait to do that for her as soon as he found her.  
"Come on! Let's go! We need to get going. This guy is waiting to get new orders soon, so he's not going to be here for long, he said. And he seemed to imply his sister is kind of weird about talking to haoles she doesn't know, so we need him as our way to get to her."  
"What is all this 'anti-haole' vibe from some people, anyway? I didn't really feel like anybody hated us because we weren't Hawaiians the whole time we were in Waikiki, but I saw some pretty mean signs here and over in Waianae. What did we do to piss them off?" Hilda seemed genuinely puzzled.  
Daniel shrugged, "Well, I'm not sure, but from what I read in Betty's research, there does seem to be some anti-haole sentiment here on the West side of Oahu, at least, in Waianae, here, Waipahu, and a few other places.  
She wrote that she found out about how Hawaii was colonized, huge parts of the population killed off with smallpox, then annexed against their will, locking up that poor Queen, you know Lili kulani, or whatever her name was, the one who wrote Aloha Oi, you know, the one that you see stuff about all over here. Anyway, they really loved her and she was treated like some criminal, locked up in her own palace and everything.  
Betty said that the only real strong anti-haole sentiments seemed to be more against those who just blow into the island, totally ignorant of the culture and history, and who try to take over things, buying up everything and pushing the Hawaiians off their own land. Sort of like the Native Americans, I guess. She said making it just a race thing was oversimplifying it. That there's actually a pretty healthy respect for diversity here, with all the different cultures."  
Hilda looked proud, "I guess you really did read EVERYTHING she wrote, huh, Daniel? Not just the 'juicy stuff'. I suppose I underestimated how much you care for my sister."  
He smiled, but hurried them out, "Yeah, I guess so. So, come on, let's go!" They all grinned at his enthusiasm. Tyler squeezed Amanda's hand, and leaned over to her, "I'm glad to see him so happy and hopeful. I really hope this Air Force guy and his sister know something useful. I'm getting really worried with how long it's taking us to find her. I just hope she doesn't need medical attention or anything, you know?"  
Amanda teared up a bit, "Tyler, don't say that! Don't even think it, okay? I know Betty's going to be okay. She's going to be just like normal, eating something and telling us some boring facts about things we don't really care about and…and she's going to be FINE, okay? I don't want to hear anything about anything else as even a possibility, got it?"  
He hugged her, "I'm sorry, Mandy. You're right. I know she's going to be just fine. I'm sure this is going to lead us to her."  
She nodded, wiping her tears, and moved away from him, looking down, "I never thought I'd actually say this, but is that your gun, Tyler, or are you just happy to see me?"  
He laughed, "Uh, sorry, it's probably the gun, baby. Although, I am always very happy to see you. Maybe just not THAT happy, right this minute, anyway. We'll get to that as soon as we get back, and hopefully have something to celebrate, alright?"  
She nodded, smiling through her tears. He couldn't help but think it might not be so bad to have Marc here in some ways. Amanda seemed on edge and like she didn't even want to entertain the possibility that Betty might not be found. While he certainly hadn't given up hope himself, he was extremely worried about Amanda, Hilda, and definitely Daniel's mental state if that possibility turned out to be the reality they faced.  
They made their way through the busy King Kamehameha highway to the almost industrial area where Hekili told Daniel he lived with his sister. After getting a little turned around and almost going into the Punch Bowl, then towards the Arizona Memorial, Bobby managed to find the street, behind a strip mall. There was a small, rundown apartment complex. The buildings had all been painted the color of baby aspirin, sort of a cross between orange and pink and the complex was in dire need of fresh paint (in any color) as well as quite a few serious renovations, and updating to be anything approaching decent-looking.  
There were many abandoned and shabby-looking cars parked around the over-crowded complex. As the group looked at one another, Amanda said what most of them were thinking, "What a dump!"  
They laughed, but Daniel looked at her, with a serious look, "Hey, knock it off. We don't know what these people have been through here. Let's just see what they know about Betty, okay? We were just in a homeless community. I guess a lot of those people would love to have a roof like this over their head, you know?"  
Bobby agreed with Daniel, "Yeah. Daniel's right. We have no idea how much a lot of those people have been through. Or these folks, either. Let's just talk to the guy and his sister and see what they can tell us. Besides, if the guy's military, I got respect for him, that's for sure."  
Amanda looked guilty, as did Hilda. "You're right." Hilda said. She squeezed Bobby's arm. "I just pray they can help us find Betty. I miss her so much!"  
He hugged her, "I know you do, baby. We'll find her, don't worry. Daniel, lead the way, man."  
"Sure." He texted Hekili to let him know they had arrived and as soon as they knocked, they were greeted by a young, handsome man, in an Air Force uniform.  
"Hi, everyone. Come on in. I know the place is a wreck, sorry. I'm not here much, I get bounced around a lot and my sister…well, she's been through a lot. She lost her husband not that long ago and she's had some problems getting back on her feet. That's one reason I came here to try and help her out a little. Can I get you guys anything to drink? Tea, water, uh…beer?"  
Bobby nodded, "Sure, I'll take a beer if you got one. Thanks!"  
The man disappeared for a minute, then tossed Bobby a can. "Here you go, uh, have a seat, everybody. Let's talk for a minute, then I'll go get my sister."  
Hilda blurted out, "So, why does your sister hate us? Just because we're not Hawaiian? As a Latina woman, I find it weird that I'm being lumped with a bunch of 'white people' here, sorry guys, but, you know what I mean."  
"I don't think Hawaiians hate haoles as much as they resent them for the way so many of them (not all, but a lot) have a "MOVE OVER CAUSE I'M TAKING OVER!" kind of attitude. True, it's wrong to generalize and it's wrong to be prejudiced and hate. And I certainly know not all haoles have that kind of attitude.  
I'm only part Hawaiian, myself. I'm what you call here a hapa. My girlfriend and some of my best friends are haole and sooo modest and not li'dat at all, but I guess it's just that after you see that kind of attitude enough it's hard not to get that feeling like... oh no here we go again, sometimes.  
It's like if you go to a restaurant, you order eggs and they taste bad, and it happens three times in a row, it makes you just want to stay away from eggs even if you know there are good ones out there. But when it comes to people we have to make ourselves say, I'm going to try these eggs out anyway and be fair cause maybe they won't be like the last three, even though you might be cringing and going, please, please, please don't let these turn out like the last ones!  
And I do think it's horrible that some kids get beat up here just because they're haole. There's no excuse for that...  
My sister's is actually my half-sister. My dad was American military, but Kailani's dad was a local, so she's native Hawaiian. She loves me, though, we're ohana, you know, family, so…she knows not all hoales, or us hapas are bad. She's just been through a lot. Let's just say, she's had some bad experiences that made her a little distrustful. But she really liked Betty when she met her the other day and said she wants to help her family find her."  
"How can she help us?" Daniel looked at Hekili, with hope and urgency in his eyes.  
"Well, like I told you on the phone, your girlfriend interviewed Kailani just the day before and she said Betty talked to her after she left the restaurant and just before she went out to the car Thursday night. So, she was probably the last one to see Betty alive."  
Daniel and the others exchanged concerned glances, "What the hell do you mean alive? What did Betty say to her?"  
He shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like she's not STILL alive now. Hang on, let me just go get Kailani and let her tell you what she and Betty said to each other, okay? I'm probably just messing things up, trying to get in the middle. But, I was afraid she would be too freaked out to talk to you guys, even though she wanted to tell you what she found out. Hold on. I'll be right back."  
"I hope this chick actually knows something." Hilda bit her lip, looking worried. "You don't think they're just out for money or something, do you? Like this is some kind of scam? I mean, why didn't she go to the police?"  
Daniel leaned forward and whispered, "He said the police must not have realized she talked to Betty, so they didn't question her and she doesn't have a TV, as you can see, so she didn't know Betty was missing until her brother mentioned to her that he had heard something about a tourist that had disappeared Thursday.  
She still didn't realize it was Betty until one of the people in the homeless community she volunteers at happened to say something about us and Betty and she put the pieces together. She brought my card home and talked to her brother and he convinced her to talk to us directly. She's a little suspicious of the police, for some reason. Look, let's not judge until we talk to her, okay?  
Frankly, I'd almost like to get a ransom note, at least I'd know for sure it was all just about money and Betty was okay and I could just pay them and get her back, you know?"  
Hilda nodded. She just hated to get her hopes up only to be dashed, now.  
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Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Honesty, trust, confidence  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 17: Honesty/Trust/Confidence  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: This is the author's note I put on the very first paragraph of the first chapter of this story, "Just remember, this is as usual for me, a Detty romance." Not to mention, if you read my actual story description, you will see I said it is *Detty with a twist.  
Have a little bit of patience and faith, please! I will give you a BIG, huge hint, if you are a fan at all of the excellent (and extremely adorable) Mark Ruffalo, think: JLH. Although, you'll find out some important things in this very chapter, I promise. LOL! And here we go….  
"You Daniel, brah? You Betty's love, eh?" A tall, Hawaiian woman, with a large build and a soft, kind face came in the room. She looked nothing like her half-brother, except for her mouth. She smiled kindly at Daniel and the others, and hugged Daniel, kissing him on both cheeks.  
He smiled, "Uh, yeah. I'm Daniel. And I do love Betty, very much. What can you tell us about that night? Do you have any idea where she might be? What happened to her?"  
She shook her head, "She not dead. She need our help, though."  
"How do you know that? Did you talk to the people who took her?" Hilda was growing impatient with the woman's vague teases.  
She shook her head, "I nevah talk to them kine guys. They bad news. I try and warn huh that night. But she no make any sense when she tell me she gonna go wif some guys she just met. See about some story she wanna write. I know somma guys, I see her talk to once. They jus stupid, silly guys what hang around places they oughtta not be. They not really mean, but not smart enuff to stay outta trouble, eh?"  
Daniel pulled out the mug shots of Justin and Taavilli and she nodded, "Yeah, I see them before. She get in da car wif them? They gone now, right?"  
Daniel looked at the woman's brother, "Did the police release that information to the public yet? How did you know that? I didn't say they were dead, did I?"  
"You did to the people in Makaha, remember, Daniel?" Bobby reminded him.  
"Oh, right."  
Hekili pointed to Kailani, "My sister knows things, though. She sees things. I know it might be hard for you to believe, but she said she's seen Betty's spirit. That doesn't mean she's passed on, necessarily. According to her, everyone has a spirit."  
"Not according to me, brah! You know bettah! Betty's mana is very strong. She NOT dead. I see huh! I only meet huh two time, though. I tink I not duh only one who see huh, right? Daniel, you luv huh, you see huh, too, eh?"  
Daniel didn't know what to say, he felt all eyes on him. Was he going to lie and say he hadn't seen Betty's spirit or mana or whatever, when he actually had? Who cared what everyone thought of him? If this crazy woman, regardless if she was some kind of island voodoo witch doctor, for whatever reason, was seeing Betty, too, and they could all dance and chant and sing Kumbaya or something and get an address out of it, he didn't really give a shit right now.  
"Yeah, I've seen her. Several times. Her spirit or mana or whatever you call it." Hilda and Tyler looked somewhat shocked at Daniel's admission.  
Bobby and Amanda both looked at one another, however. Bobby raised his hand hesitantly, "Actually, me, too. I mentioned it to Daniel when we were on the Big Island. I've seen her a few times now. She's always just real encouraging, telling me we're doing great, and we're on the right path or whatever. She said something about kukui? I looked it up and it said it means light or knowledge, right?"  
"It means enlightened. Our people used the kukui nut for oil to make light."  
She turned to Amanda, "You see Betty, too?"  
Amanda nodded, "Once, yeah. I thought I was so tired; I must have just been dreaming or something. But, I talked to her and I yelled at her for leaving with those guys in the first place. She just smiled at me and said she was sorry she was putting us all through worrying about her.  
She told me to keep an eye on Daniel and make sure he got some sleep and that he didn't…freak out too much. The only problem is, I don't know how NOT to freak out myself! I just want Betty back! Did she tell you where she went with those guys?"  
Kailani nodded. "She not really know wea she is, but I recognize da place from the visions she give me. I take you dere now. We need to go right away, though. She not got a whole lotta time left. She getting weak. That why she stop coming to me. The men what take huh, dey left huh to go talk story to da one who hire em. Kavika still alive, but he in a dark place now. Try to get back to huh and hurt her, maybe. Duh oddah one, Marty? He just try to get back to his home. But he trust duh wrong person and he gone, too, now."  
"Well, let's go! You can ride with us and take us to where she is right now, then. Let's go get her. Come on!"  
Tyler looked at the woman skeptically, but was amazed to hear that three of them, including his own girlfriend claimed to have seen Betty's spirit. It was unbelievable to a simple guy from South Dakota, but then again, he had seen a lot of things in his short life that made him wonder, too.  
The fact that he had been able to climb out of his addiction to alcohol and that after all this time, Claire had managed to track him down and make him a part of the family. That he and Daniel had made peace with one another and started to have a relationship as brothers. Plus, to have someone as beautiful and sweet as Amanda in his life, he considered all those things a miracle, too.  
So, he nodded, grinning at Daniel's excitement, "Yeah, hell, yeah. Let's go find Betty!"  
So, the women all piled into the cab and the men jumped in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life as Kailani headed onto the H-2, and out past the signs for the North Shore. He thought he heard his phone ring, but lost his signal as they went through the tunnel.  
When they emerged, they were flabbergasted at the lovely bay area. "Wow, this is like jaw-dropping gorgeous! I sort of remember coming through here earlier in the week on our circle tour of the island, but after a while, everything is so pretty, it just got overwhelming, you know?" Hia commented to Kailani.  
She nodded, seeming to understand, "You live hea you whole life, you take it for granted, I guess, you know? I hea from some friends not from hea, though. Betty one tell me how lucky I am to live hea. She tell me she grow up in Queen?"  
"Queens." Hilda corrected. "Yeah, it's nothing like here, that's for sure! It's okay, I guess. I grew up there. But, I can't imagine growing up somewhere so beautiful. I haven't really gotten to enjoy it's beauty ever since Thursday, though, you know? Nothing has been registering much. All I can do is worry about where my sister could be.  
You can really see her? And she's telling you where she is? I don't understand why Betty's spirit is flying around, talking to everybody but me! I can't believe Bobby didn't tell me he saw her and spoke to her. And Amanda? I know Amanda's her friend, but I'm her sister! Why wouldn't she show herself to me, too?"  
"Maybe cuz you not believe. You too mad at huh, no? Anger block da visions."  
"You're right! I am. I'm furious that she got in that car with those idiots who are now dead! And now you're saying one of the other guys who still had her is dead, too. I mean, the person who hired them is clearly getting rid of the witnesses, one by one, right? So, is he going to have this Kavika guy kill her, then he'll probably kill him, too?" Hilda was angry, and trying not to cry.  
Amanda patted her arm. "Hilda, that doesn't make any sense. There has to be some reason the mainland guy, that George Markus had those guys take her. Besides, remember, she didn't really get in that car on her own. She was drugged with that zombie stuff."  
Kailani nodded in recognition, "Of course! That why she seem so outta tings she say to me! She drugged wif devil's breath."  
"I've heard it called that from some people I know in Columbia, too. It's some serious stuff. Yeah, I'm sure that's why Betty didn't really respond to you trying to warn her not to go off with some people she had just met. I'm not really mad AT her, I'm mad at the people who took her. I'm just so scared!"  
Kailani put her hand on Hilda's arm, as she took a turn widely, going over a dip in the road and sending the men flying around in the back. "She gonna be okay. We gonna find huh, I promise!"  
"Thank you! You almost make me believe you."  
"I know wea she is. She just no recognize it, I know da island like back a my hand. It just past beach called "Hukilau". I know thea because she show me hula girls close by, and thea a place called Polynesian Cultural Center jus past duh Hukilau Beach. Dere some houses in between, dat own by hoales, not hea mosa year. So, dey jus sit empty. Dat wea she is.  
You maybe wanna call police now, tell dem we on our way dea. Say, between Hukilau beach and PCC. He know area. We give em address as soon as I see da house, I gonna know it. It green house, wif black shutters and gotta little garage. That wea dey got her. She not get enuf air, though. They hide her in a big ole kine closet. She get real sick. They give huh too much drugs, need help NOW!"  
As the road (and Kailani's somewhat erratic and hurried driving) continued to send them all scrambling, the men had just begun to take it in stride, almost laughing at the roller coaster ride it had become.  
"Shit! Where the hell did your sister learn to drive, anyway?" Bobby complained. I'm a licensed professional driving instructor. Maybe I could teach her to at least attempt to keep it on the road and under eighty miles an hour!"  
Hekili shrugged, taking their wild sailing around in stride. "You should ride around in the back of a deuce and a half sometime with my staff seargent driving. I think, sorry I KNOW he's trying to get us to taste our nuts or something! Besides, if Kailani's driving this fast, it's because she's really worried about your friend's safety right now. She normally drives like a little old lady going to church on Sunday. I normally have to remind her that once she sees a school zone, it doesn't last forever! I'm telling you, she's not usually like this. I've never seen her warm up to a group of hoales she's never met before like she has you guys, either. I thought I was gonna faint when I saw her hug and kiss you, Daniel. She's usually NEVER this nice to people she doesn't know. Especially haoles."  
"What's she got against us?" Bobby asked.  
"Her husband was a hoale. And her mother-in-law was a total bitch! She hated Kailani with a passion. She treated her like she was trash. And she…well, she somehow managed to steal her daughter from her after her husband died, and took her to the mainland. That was almost eight months ago. I'm trying to help her save enough money to go find her little girl and bring her back here."  
"God, that's terrible. How old is Kailani's daughter?"  
"Three and a half."  
"How did she manage to take her? I mean, legally? She is the girl's mother. So, how would a grandmother get custody over a mother? Keilani's not into drugs or anything is she? Or was she?" Tyler asked.  
He shook his head, "NO, no way! She's totally against them. But, the woman's got money. LOTS of money. She hired somebody to slip Kailani that same drug that you said Betty was given, Scopolamine, or we call it zombie drug here. She went off with some guy who took dirty pictures of her, even though she didn't remember doing anything, the woman managed to get custody, claiming Kailani was an unfit mother.  
It was total crap! I know my sister. She loves that little girl more than her own life. She'd never leave her alone like that normally. She couldn't help getting drugged. But, the judge sided with her mother-in-law. She's probably somewhere on the west coast with my niece right now."  
"I'm sorry. I appreciate her helping us like this. I won't pretend to know how she's getting a 'fix' on Betty right now. The times I saw her, uh what did you guys call it, mana?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, she never knew where she was. At first, she kept saying she couldn't see out. But she could tell she was close to a beach, because she could hear the waves. And she said pineapples were close, a lot of pineapples."  
"Yeah, we're just about to pass the Dole Plantation out here."  
"Really? Wow! That's amazing, Daniel." Tyler was floored by this information they were somehow getting from Betty.  
Finally, after over an hour, Kailani pulled into the driveway across the street from a green house. She pulled up quietly, and ran out to the back of the truck. "She's across the street, inside the garage. It's locked, so use my crow bar in the back there and pry it open. She's in a what do you call those tings, a standing closet, you know?"  
"A wardrobe?" Daniel suggested.  
"Right. She been drugged, and had no water all day. The guy, Kavika is pissed at da guy what hire him to take huh. Marty was the one what fed her and give huh water before. Kavika mad, duh oddah guy try to cross him, so he gonna take it out on huh, if we no get huh outta there right now! Go!"  
The four men all jumped out of the truck and ran across the street wielding the crow bar as Kailani had suggested. They opened the door and there were cars and parts everywhere. Daniel started yelling, "Betty! Are you here?" They tried to see in the dark mess, but none of them saw a wardrobe anywhere at first.  
Daniel was digging frantically through the debris scattered everywhere, using his bare hands to try and clear away a path and found a flashlight to try and see better, since the overhead light didn't work. "Betty? Betty, baby, where are you? Please try and make some noise, so we can find you, okay?"  
They all stopped clearing things away for a moment, and heard a faint thumping. Daniel's eyes widened, "Please tell me the rest of you actually heard that, too?"  
They all nodded, and Hekili pointed to a corner, covered in old copies of Rolling Stone Magazines, "I think it came from under all those magazines."  
They started throwing the magazines to the floor and lying down, was an old, locked wooden wardrobe. Daniel's eyes, along with everyone's were tearing up.  
"What the hell you guys doin hea, eh? You tryin to horn in on my money, now?"  
Bobby and Hekili looked at the garage door in time to see the man, Kavika land on the ground in a heap. Hilda, Amanda, and Kailani had all three hit him on the back of the head with 'tire irons'. Tyler stood, with his gun drawn, ready to fire on the man, had the three ladies not dropped him first. Hekili laughed, "Sistah, how many a them tire irons you got?"  
She shrugged, throwing hers to the ground, next to the unconscious man. "Nevah know when I'm gonna need change all four a them tires."  
"At the same time?" her brother shook his head.  
Daniel had barely even noticed what was going on around him, he was totally focused on getting the padlock off the wardrobe door. He called back to the ladies, "Does he have a key on him for this padlock? Otherwise, we might need you to come shoot it off, Tyler. But, I don't want you to shoot Betty!"  
"That wouldn't be my first choice, either. I'm a good shot, but…let's see if he's got the key or not, first, just in case."  
"Let me, I know how to look for stuff on a passed out guy pretty well." Amanda said as she quickly rifled through his pockets and found the key, then threw it to Daniel. "Daniel, here!"  
He opened the door and there, at the bottom of the wardrobe, in the fetal position was his beautiful little Betty. She was barely awake and looked extremely pale. But she was definitely aware of one thing. "Daniel! You found me!" She managed a small smile.  
He picked her up and held her to him, whispering, "Of course, I did, sweetie. Did you have any doubts I would?"  
She barely shook her head, "No. I knew you'd come. Thank you."  
He kissed her forehead softly as he carried her out to the flashing lights of the police cars that had come racing up the drive. Captain Sukki looked shocked to see Daniel, "You guys beat us here, huh? So you're the anonymous tip we got to come here and look for Betty?" Daniel shook his head, "No, we called you on our way here just now, but…we didn't know about this place till a little over an hour ago."  
The man shook his head, "That's exactly when we got the call, too. Come on, I'll get you to the hospital with her. Give her some water, she looks dehydrated."  
Betty had passed out, and Daniel had no idea how badly injured she was from the drugs and neglect she had suffered over the past several days. He didn't want to even imagine what she had been through. He sat in the back seat of the police car, holding her and stroking her cheek, willing her to open her eyes once more. "Betty… please wake up again, sweetie. I love you."  
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Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Saying Thank You is Hardest  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 18: Saying Thank You is the Hardest Part  
Disclaimer I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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Captain Sukki continued glancing back at Daniel, concern apparent on his face. He tried to sound re-assuring. He didn't dare tell Daniel what he had witnessed in other cases where someone had been held captive for several days, even those just suffering from severe dehydration, let alone a person who was being drugged.  
It was anyone's guess how much the girl had been mistreated during her captivity, so he honestly couldn't offer any real hopes at this point. All he could do is silently pray on behalf of her and her family and this poor man, who so obviously loved her.  
Daniel kept trying to wake her, as did Hilda, sitting next to them both, in the back seat of the captain's car.  
Hilda leaned over to touch Betty's cheek, trying to wake her sister. She kept calling out suggestions to Daniel, "Try taking her shoe off and tickling her foot. They're super sensitive. Oh, I forgot, you already know all about that, don't you?"  
He furrowed his brows, realizing there must have been a fantasy Betty had written about involving her ticklish feet that he hadn't read yet. He decided to go on the offense, "Did you read everything Betty wrote about us, Hilda? What the hell? That was way beyond invasion of your sister's and my privacy, and you know it!"  
"Whatever, Daniel. Just try it. Who knows, it might help wake her up. I used to do it to her all the time just to mess with her, and it always worked."  
He rolled his eyes, blowing out a breath and thinking this was ridiculous, but he was willing to try anything. Once he took off one of her sandals and barely touched the bottom of her feet, he noticed her foot curl up slightly. He and Hilda exchanged hopeful glances, and she elbowed him, "See! I told you. I know my sister. Obviously not like you do, but…"  
"Hilda, stop. Let's just focus on Betty."  
Try it again!" she urged.  
He smiled and tickled her foot again, leaning down to whisper, "Wakey, wakey, Betty. Time to get up. Let's see those pretty brown eyes, okay? Come on, you need some…"  
"Water!" she whispered, hoarsely.  
"Betty! Sure, sure, hang on." He grabbed a bottle of water from the sergeant in the front seat. "Here's some, Betty." He carefully lifted her head up to help her sip. She drank eagerly and smiled, "Hi, Daniel." He stroked his hand on her cheek and smiled back at her, "Hi there, Betty. I've never been happier to see you. You have no idea. How do you feel?"  
"Dizzy, and really, really thirsty, and hungry!"  
They all laughed. Hilda and Daniel both had a look of complete relief on their faces. Captain Sukki smiled into the rear view mirror, thinking how nice it was when he actually got a case like this, where the family just wouldn't give up and there was a happy ending. There were far too many cases, cases like his friend, the Pastor's sister that didn't end so well.  
Daniel squeezed Betty's hand, his eyes starting to glisten, "God, Betty, we were scared to death we'd never see you again."  
"Me, too. Thanks for finding me."  
Hilda was crying, but trying to hide it. Betty looked at her sister, and teased, "Hilda, YOU'RE crying? But you hardly ever cry!" She could remember four times Hilda had cried, when she first found out she was pregnant, when their mother died, when Santos died, and of course, when papi had his heart attack.  
But, now, she was wiping her eyes, putting on her 'tough Queens chick' act. "Whatever! You scared the HELL out of us, Betty! Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?"  
Betty smiled and grabbed Hilda's hand, "I love you too, Hilda."  
Hilda cleared her throat, "You know, if it wasn't for Daniel here, and that kinda crazy, but nice lady, Kailani who said she saw your spirit or whatever she called it, we would have never found you, mama! You're damn lucky to be alive!"  
"Kailani?"  
Daniel asked gently, "Yeah. She helped us get to you. Do you remember talking to her, Betty? She's one of the people you interviewed for your story."  
Betty looked down, biting her lip, "You mean, the story about the cruise wear fashions?"  
Hilda rolled her eyes, "Nice try, mami! No, he means your other story. The one that almost got you killed. You must have asked the wrong questions about drugs or something and really pissed off that man from the mainland, that George Markus guy."  
Betty's eyes grew fearful. "I heard Kavika and Marty say that name. I still don't know why they took me. Marty started to tell me who arranged it and why, but Kavika stopped him and told him they would have to kill me for sure if he did.  
Marty was nice to me. He snuck me food and water. I was in the house most of the time. Kavika is the one who threw me in that terrible wardrobe today. I could barely breathe in there. It was horrible.  
Marty only pretended to drug me when Kavika tried to tell him to knock me out or something. But Kavika made me inhale those things a few times and they made me sick. I would wake up later and not remember where I was or what had happened. I had all these weird dreams or hallucinations.  
Something happened today, though. They found out the other two guys, the ones who got out of the car that night, I guess, got killed. Kavika and Marty were scared. They were afraid Markus was going to have them killed, too, I think. I heard them arguing. Marty just wanted to walk away and let me go.  
He was only talked into it in the first place by Kavika's friend, as a quick way to make money to get back to his family in Africa. They lied to him. He didn't know they were going to be kidnapping anyone. He thought he was delivering something shady, like drugs. I know he regretted getting involved and felt really sorry for me."  
Daniel smiled, stroking her hair. Leave it to Betty to bond with one of her kidnappers. That's how she survived getting almost burned alive when Renee lost her mind, though. It was one of Betty's gifts, to relate to people from all different walks of life-to find their humanity, the good in them. Hell, she had done it with him, with his mother, with Marc and Amanda, with just about everyone she knew at Mode, it seemed.  
Betty looked at Daniel, trying to sit up, "Daniel, let me sit up."  
"Betty, will you relax? We're almost at the hospital, right, Captain?"  
"Yes. We'll be there in a few minutes. You should keep drinking water."  
"Okay. I am really thirsty. Kavika threw me in that thing this morning and after I heard him arguing with Marty, I kept thinking once he left Marty would be coming back to let me out. But I was starting to get really tired and…it was dark in there and scary."  
Hilda and Daniel exchanged glances with the Captain. Daniel gently told her, "Sweetie, uh, Marty's gone. We don't know if he and Kavika fought and it was more or less an accident, or…if Marty was targeted by Markus, like his other two 'employees'. But, the police found him not too far away, on the beach by the house where they had you. Actually, some people staying at Turtle Bay were driving up to Hukilau Beach and they are the ones who discovered his…body."  
Betty sat up slightly and Daniel cradled her as she hugged him and cried. "He was so good to me. He was really a good guy, who just made some wrong choices. He's the only reason I'm alive. He protected me from the others right from the start and from Kavika once they brought me here. I'll always be grateful to him.  
He…he didn't deserve to die like that. I should find his family and tell them he died a hero, trying to keep me safe. I think Kavika might have killed him when they were arguing and taken his body to that beach. From what I heard, that's sort of what it sounded like."  
"Let's just worry about getting you better, first, mami."  
Captain Sukki pulled the car into the emergency room entrance. He turned to Hilda, "We're here. I let your son and friend know what was going on and they have landed. They are on their way here to meet us. I had some of my men pick them up directly from the airport. Your son was very happy to hear his aunt was safe."  
Hilda smiled, "I guess so. Justin thinks the sun rises and sets in his Aunt Betty. She is his link to the world of fashion that he loves so much. You really should have sent Justin to do a story on a fashion show, instead of Betty, Daniel. He would have just reported on the clothes, and not butted his nosey nose into stuff that wasn't his business!"  
Betty rolled her eyes, "I got it, Hilda. I'm sorry! So, Justin's here, and who else?"  
Just then, the truck pulled in behind them, filled with everyone. The men jumped out of the back and came rushing over to check on Betty. Bobby grinned, "So, is the chipmunk up and chattering away, as usual? Hey, Betty!"  
"Bobby! It's so good to see you! And Tyler, hi! You came, too?"  
Then, Betty saw Amanda, who was with Tyler, and she looked fearfully into the police car, as if she was afraid to see how Betty had fared after her ordeal. When she saw Betty was awake, she hugged her, "Betty! You're alive! OMG, B, I was so scared. I never thought I was going to see you again. God, don't ever do that, okay? Who would Marc and I torture if anything happened to you?"  
Hilda nodded, "See how many people love you, Betty? Marc's here, too. He came with Justin."  
"Let's get her inside and let the doctors take a look at her." Daniel got out and reached back in, insisting on carrying her in to the emergency room.  
As the doctors were checking her over, and giving her tests to see how much of the drugs she had in her system, Daniel and Bobby both paced. Tyler stood, watching them almost run into each other, and tried to distract Amanda from freaking out.  
After hours that seemed like days, the doctors reported the good news, that Betty had very little of the scopolamine in her system, and was only mildly dehydrated from her ordeal. They were all thankful that her one captor had been so regretful and gentle, so that for the most part, other than being held against her will, she, at least, hadn't been physically mistreated up until this last day and night.  
Captain Sukki and his men had left to question Kavika at the police station and see what kind of leads they could get on finding the elusive George Markus, who had supposedly set Betty's kidnapping in motion, and killed or hired someone else to kill at least two of his own men, and find out his motives.  
Betty asked to see Kailani and her brother. She thanked them profusely for leading her friends and family to find her. "I don't pretend to understand how you knew where to tell everyone to find me, but thank you so much! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I owe you everything."  
Kailani smiled, "You are the one who keep pesterin me, sistah Betty! Your mana is SO strong. You didn't only wanna come to me, you came to your brother-in-law and your friend, and to your boyfriend, Daniel.  
You owe a lot ta him, too, sistah, girl. I wouldn't a been able to figgah out everyting, until HE go to duh people in Makaha, and tell them all how he and your family miss you and how he knew you still alive. I have friends dere who tell me he brake dere heart, talkin story about how he would pay any ransom to get you back and that he no gonna leave duh island without you."  
Betty looked at the woman with amazement, "Wait, what did you say? That doesn't make any sense. First, I, my mana, that means spirit here, right? So, you're saying my spirit appeared to you and Bobby, and Amanda, and, and DANIEL? And that he called ME his GIRLFRIEND? Daniel? Daniel Meade? You're kidding, right?"  
Kailani and her brother exchanged glances. "No, my sister's right. He told all of us he was your boyfriend. You mean he isn't?"  
Betty shook her head, "No! He's my boss. We're just friends. I don't understand why he would say that."  
Kailani smiled and put her hand on top of Betty's. "Friends, eh? You sure about dat one, sistah?"  
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Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Friends to Lovers  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 19: Ka Hoa to Ku`u ipo(Friends to lovers)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
The police wanted to talk to Betty in the morning, but Captain Sukki had given orders for nobody outside her circle of friends and family to disturb her until she had gotten a chance to rest.  
Hilda had told Marc and Justin just to go to their hotel for tonight, because Betty needed to rest and recover and they would be able to see her tomorrow. Both had just been thrilled to hear she had been found.  
Betty seemed fine, overall, considering her ordeal, certainly in a lot better condition than they feared she might be when they discovered she had been locked in a wardrobe.  
Thank God, it hadn't been for the whole time, as Kavika seemed to have preferred, or she certainly wouldn't have survived. They all said a silent thank you that Marty had been there to protect her and possibly had even been killed for his loyalty to her.  
But Hilda knew this experience was going to change Betty immensely, as it had all of them, in various ways. At first, she had been extremely upset with Bobby for not telling her about his visions, but he convinced her that the reason he didn't was he was afraid it meant Betty might be dead, and he didn't want to give Hilda the impression he had given up hope in any way.  
After a few hours had passed, and the doctors had finished all their tests and exams for the night, it seemed, Daniel peaked his head in, "Hey, there. Can you squeeze me in to your busy schedule, Miss?"  
"Daniel! Sure, come in, please. Sit down."  
He sat down in a small recliner next to the bed. "Can I get you anything, Betty? Tea, coffee, contraband of any kind? I could see if they have ice cream down in their cafeteria. Some of the plate lunches had interesting fare. Personally, I think I'll pass on the Kailua pork from here. But they've got…"  
She put up her hand and smiled gently, "I'm fine, thanks, Daniel. I had something that almost resembled food a little while ago, and I think I'll wait till they spring me from here to get a little higher quality stuff tomorrow."  
"The doctors are going to release you that soon?"  
She nodded, grinning, "Yeah. They wanted to keep me longer, I think, but I told them I wasn't going anywhere for a while, so I could check in as an outpatient if they let me out of here as soon as possible! I said I needed to get out of being held captive and I think they took mercy on me. I'm just so grateful that Kavika wasn't the only one there, so I didn't get shoved in that wardrobe the whole time."  
"Me, too." Daniel said quietly. He had grabbed her hand, intertwining it with hers.  
Betty bit her lip, and took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to broach the subject of the hallucinations she had been told about and perhaps more confusing, why Daniel had been seemingly telling everyone in Hawaii that she was his girlfriend. Including their friends and family. Hilda and Bobby, Tyler and Amanda had all confirmed that Daniel had finally 'admitted' to them that they had been secretly seeing each other for years.  
"Uh, listen, Daniel, I was just kind of wondering why you…told people we were going out. I don't really understand."  
He pulled his hand away from hers and folded both his own hands together, looking down at them. He handed her his phone, and showed her quietly the file he had saved onto it from the flash drive Hilda had given him. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what it was and she turned crimson, "You…read this?"  
He nodded.  
"ALL of it?"  
He shook his head, "Uh, no. I've been a little busy."  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, not sure what she should say to him. She couldn't imagine feeling more mortified. She couldn't blame him, of course. They were looking for clues as to where she could be. Of course he would look on her computer. And Daniel knew her password, just like she knew his. Shit!  
She contemplated for a second if she just put the sheet over her head if he would eventually go away and leave her to die of embarrassment in peace. If she had been standing naked in front of him right now, she would have felt less exposed.  
She cleared her throat and took a huge gulp of water, trying to think of something to say.  
"Daniel, I…okay, let me understand this. You read that. PLEASE tell me no one else saw it! I mean, you didn't invite Bobby and Tyler over to laugh at it or something."  
"Betty, don't be ridiculous! Of course not. But… unfortunately, Hilda found it. She didn't tell anyone else, though. She was really pissed at me."  
"At YOU? Why?"  
He glanced sideways at her, "I…sort of let her believe those things really happened."  
"WHAT? Why on earth would you…Oh. Daniel. That was really…kind of sweet. And sort of chivalrous, in a weird way, I guess. Thank you. I don't know what you must think of me. I'm really embarrassed and ashamed. God only knows what you must think of me now."  
He smirked, looking at her and grabbed her hand again, "Honestly? Uh, first of all, I was really flattered. Second, I think you're a VERY hot writer! And third, well, I was just sort of wondering why you never said anything all this time if you…felt that way."  
She glanced up at him, shyly, choosing not to really answer him, "Thank you…that's really nice of you. So, THAT'S why you told everyone we were girlfriend and boyfriend, to cover that up to Hilda?"  
He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand across his forehead, feeling like he was sweating. "Yeah, well, partially that, and I felt like we would get more sympathy and cooperation from people in trying to find you if we had your sister and worried boyfriend looking for you instead of best friend/former boss. It had more impact, you know? Plus, I…liked reading some of those, well, all the ones I had time to read, actually. They sort of made me feel closer to you and I could at least pretend I really was your boyfriend.  
I was so worried I was never going to see you again and it made me realize how crazy that would make me. I really felt like I would go insane if I didn't find you, Betty. And those hallucinations or whatever? God, they felt so real! I swear, it felt like you were really there, talking to me, and uh, sort of flirting with me."  
"I flirted with you in your hallucination of me?" She looked at him incredulously.  
He nodded, grinning, "Well, it kind of went beyond flirting; actually, we sort of…acted out your writing a little. But, mostly, you were trying to give me clues as to where you were being held and things that would help me find you. Like you said, you saw lots of pineapples, and you were on the North Shore, past The Dole Pineapple Factory, and you were in a bikini, with a little wrap skirt, and you danced the hula for me. Well, the house you were at was right down the street from that Polynesian Culture place where they of course, have lots of hula girls. You also told me about Kavika being Tongan."  
She gave him a disapproving look, leaning closer, "Sorry, what do you mean, you 'sort of' acted out my writing a little? You mean you…did stuff in your head with me?"  
He looked at her, "Uh, Betty, I don't think you're entitled to give me the judgy butterfly look, my dear, when YOU are the one who wrote what I was fantasizing about in the first place."  
She looked down, biting her lip again, and shyly nodded, "No, I guess not. You're right. Sorry. I never meant ANYBODY to see that. I can't imagine what Hilda must think, now. Although, she had no right to read it. It's just like when she read my diary before. She's such a SNOOP!"  
He asked quietly, "I'm sorry. Did I do the wrong thing, telling her it really happened? I thought I was saving you a little by letting her think that. I didn't know what the right thing was to do. She found it and assumed I had… you know, corrupted you or whatever and I figured, so what, if she thought I had acted that way. I mean, we all know I already have that reputation, so…maybe it was better she think that of me.  
I don't know. I mean, I can tell her it was a lie. Whatever you want; just let me know. But, I really didn't know what you would want me to say. I'm only sorry I didn't do what she did and put it on a flash drive and delete the file on your laptop in the first place, so she wouldn't have ever seen it. I think I would have really liked it to be just our sexy little secret, Betty."  
She smiled shyly, "I don't know what to say, Daniel. You're being really sweet about this whole thing, considering I kind of invaded your privacy, writing those things, and then my sister yells at you, accusing you of doing them to me and you just went along with it, taking the blame for things you didn't do? That was…really so fantastic of you. I can't believe you did all that for me. Not to mention, coming here, and doing everything you did to find me. All of it. You're such a…good friend."  
He kissed her hand, holding it to his lips, "Of course, I did that for you, Betty. I'd do anything for you. I… think maybe we might be ready to take things a little beyond 'friend', after everything we've both been through, though, don't you? I mean, I kind of liked playing the role of your boyfriend. I don't know that I'm ready to be demoted back to 'friend' status."  
"Demoted?"  
He shrugged. "Yeah. You know what I mean. Besides, I don't know about you, but…" he scooted closer to her and moved his mouth next to her face, whispering, "didn't writing all that stuff about us make you…hot, Betty? I know it sure did me just reading it!"  
She drew in a breath, with him so close now, she could smell the mint and coffee on his breath. She looked at him, unsure what to do or say, when he leaned forward and barely brushed his lips against hers, then pulled away, smiling. "So, if you're feeling up to it tomorrow, when you get out of here, Miss Suarez, can I uh…take you out?"  
She blushed, but nodded, "Okay, Daniel."  
He kissed her hand again and got up to leave. "Well, I guess I should let you get some rest, girlfriend. Goodnight."  
She smiled, "Goodnight, Daniel."  
He started to leave, but she called him back, "Daniel?"  
He crossed back closer to her, "Yeah?"  
She reached up for him to give him a big hug, and whispered, "Thanks again for rescuing me! You're amazing!"  
He smiled, and whispered back, "So are you, Betty."  
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Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Tourists on the Run  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 20  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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Hilda, Bobby, and Justin came to pick Betty up from the hospital. The minute Justin saw his aunt, he ran to her and hugged her, "Oh, my God, AB, I was SO worried about you. And so was Marc! You should have seen him, pacing back and forth on the plane! He was really upset. But, he told me not to tell you. He said none of it meant he liked you."  
"Of course not." Betty smiled, at their little joke over the years, knowing Amanda always said the same thing. But, of course it all DID mean they had grown extremely fond of one another. Speaking of which, she wondered if Daniel had gotten any sleep after returning to his hotel late last night, when visiting hours were over.  
"Um, did you see Daniel last night or this morning at the hotel? I know you said I could just see Marc with everyone else when I got there, but I was worried how Daniel was doing when he got back there, since he didn't leave here until late last night."  
They all exchanged glances, smiling at one another, "Uh, AB, he never left. We saw him sleeping out in the hallway, right outside your door. He texted Mom late last night and said he didn't want to take a chance on that Markus guy hiring someone to come here and try and take you back, so he would have to get you over his dead body. Or, I guess, in this case, sleeping one. Poor guy! He must have finally passed out early this morning, cause he texted her well after midnight."  
Betty didn't know what to say, or think. Daniel had been here for her in every way possible, it seemed. He had shown up, the minute Hilda told him she had disappeared, and put together a search party for her, then organized an investigation that yielded better end results than the police, probably mainly due to his heartfelt appeals to the locals, including Kailani, claiming to them all that she was his girlfriend. Not to mention, he had taken the 'wrap' so to speak for her 'dirty little secret', and admitted to a 'crime' he didn't commit. He had let Hilda believe he had come onto her numerous times in his office, his loft, and various other places where she had written about having had quite adventurous sex with him.  
Why had he done that? She assumed he had decided that it would make her seem less pathetic and depraved if he had initiated things, and that she had simply gone along with them than for her to have written those same things about a man who in fact, had no idea how much she thought about him 'in that way'.  
Betty chatted happily with her family. She was extremely anxious to get released from the hospital. Captain Sukki had already called earlier in the morning, asking if she was recovered enough to give her statement to him at the hotel. It seemed, he, too, was concerned that Markus may have the idea that he should 'finish the job' and he was very worried about her safety. Daniel need not have worried about falling asleep on the job, because there was also a uniformed officer, stationed at the nurse's station, watching Betty's door.  
She assumed Daniel knew that, though, and he had probably recognized the officer, and talked to him, or else he would have never allowed himself to fall asleep. She had heard from the others how Daniel had continually pushed himself to the point of exhaustion while they had been trying to find her.  
After she was released, Betty started out with her family and smiled, as she saw Daniel, trying to sneak out before she could give him a hard time for not going back to the hotel to get some rest when he told her he was going to. Later, back at the hotel suite Daniel had moved her things to; Betty tried to piece together what had happened to her to tell the police, while she re-united with Marc, and greeted Amanda and Tyler again briefly.  
Everyone listened with rapt interest. The only problem was, Betty had no memory of much of her time in captivity. It seemed one of the symptoms of this particular drug was not to have any long-term memory of the time in question. One of the reasons it made such an effective drug for rape, or robbery, or as in her case, kidnapping. There had been many instances where the victim himself had helped the robbers take his own property, or emptied out his own ATM, seemingly happy to hand over everything, then had no memory the next day of what he had done.  
One man reportedly helped robbers carry everything of value out of his apartment, according to a doorman, who on questioning of the victim later asked him, "Why did you let those guys take all my stuff?", the doorman replied, "You were with them, telling me it was fine, and you seemed perfectly okay!"  
Finally, after several hours, her friends and family left her to shower and change. Betty heard a knock on her door. She smiled, seeing Daniel, standing outside, wearing casual khakis and a 'Hawaiian-style' shirt, with sandals. She opened the door and giggled, "If Wilhelmina could only see you now, brah!"  
He shrugged, handing her an orchid as he walked past her, "Hey, didn't you tell me she was topless in the Bahamas? I can chill out or hang loose, or whatever. When in Hawaii, baby. So, did you get some rest? I saw everybody was all here before, along with the cops, questioning you, so I tried to give you some space."  
She rolled her eyes, "Daniel, I know you stayed outside my room last night. Justin told me they had to practically step over you, when you finally dozed off. Plus, I saw you leave the hospital myself this morning. Did you insist Captain Sukki send over an armed guard or was that his idea? He wasn't very forthcoming."  
He ignored her question, stepping out to her balcony, and smiled, "Hey, no fair, you've got a better view of Diamond Head than I do."  
She grinned, looking at the flower he had given her and put it on a table, "Well, you did pay for this room, so I suppose I should let you come and enjoy the view a little. You're welcome to…stay in here and look out the window, any time, Daniel."  
He bit his lip and looked down, shoving his hands in his pockets for a second. Then, he walked over to stand behind her and said quietly, "Was that…an invitation, Betty? I'm shocked; we haven't even officially had our first date, yet. And you're already inviting me to stay in your room?"  
She blushed slightly at first, then cleared her throat, and narrowed her eyes, "Well, as far as everyone else is concerned, we've been having a secret affair all these years, so…I guess we should be seen sneaking back and forth to one another's rooms. To keep up appearances."  
He laughed, and shrugged slightly, then traced circles on her bare shoulder, "Yeah, hey, it's not like we haven't always hung out at all times of the day and night together, anyway, so what's the difference, huh?  
Except…now we would actually be doing some of the stuff we always got accused of anyway. Hey, you know what they say, if you pay the time, you might as well do the crime, right?"  
She blushed and ignored his comment, grabbing her bag, "So, Duke's for lunch? I'm buying; I insist. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me. It's just downstairs, so my little entourage of the two policemen won't even have to get in their car to follow us."  
He whispered, "Just think, it'll be just like our first all night date, running away from the paparazzi. You thought that was fun."  
She smiled, "It was."  
He nodded, "Yeah. It really was. Have you ever gone back to our bridge?"  
"Yes. Several times."  
"Why didn't you call me?"  
She shrugged, "First, you were with Sofia, then a bunch of models, then Renee, then a bunch of models, then you were married to Molly, then you went crazy, then it was Amanda, for a while…I couldn't keep up, Daniel."  
"Well, it wasn't like you were by yourself all that time, Betty. You had your own parade of guys, too."  
"I know. I guess I should have waited for your social calendar to clear while I collected cats or something!"  
He laughed, "No, of course not. But, we were alone together plenty of times. You could have said something. What about when I asked you about having a crush on me after that nightmare with Renee, Betty? That would have been a really good time to say, hey, Daniel, I actually do think about you a lot and…maybe we should"  
"Should what? I saw the way you were looking at me then, when you thought maybe I had a crush on you, Daniel. It wasn't like it would have been welcomed. You looked…panicked or something. Like you always did when anyone ever teased us about spending so much time together or implied anything was going on between us. I know that look. You didn't want your ugly secretary."  
He grinned, looking down at her, as he held her by her arms, "You were never my ugly secretary, Betty. You were my cute assistant. And I might have seemed surprised or worried, but it was just because I didn't know how to handle it, as far as…well, a lot of reasons, really.  
Mainly, I don't think I realized how much I took you for granted, for one thing. I kind of feel like Henry Higgins. I grew accustomed to your face. To…well, everything about you. Then, when I thought I had lost you, I went nuts. I couldn't stop worrying about you, thinking about you. How much I not only depended on you, but how I missed seeing you, talking to you, spending time with you. I mean…the hallucinations were kind of my way of survival.  
I think I would have needed a padded room if not for those. Well, them and…those stories you wrote, Betty. They were…extremely sexy. I don't think I ever realized just how sexy you are. I never really thought of you in that way before. But now…I can't stop thinking about you…like that."  
He was still holding her by her arms, and leaned down as if he wanted to kiss her, but she bit her lip and pushed him away slightly, "Yeah, well, I guess we all have our vices and outlets, uh…should we get going? If you're in here too long, we'll either have Five-oh knocking down the door to check on me or one of our little party assuming we're…doing stuff. Besides, I'm hungry. Duke's has a great Kahlua pork sandwich I got before. You can try the mahi mahi and we can share, like always. Come on!" She grabbed his hand, as he rolled his eyes and laughed at her.  
"Hang on, Betty. I'm hungry, too. They're not going to run out of food! Slow down."  
They saw the two policemen, eyeing them as they came out of Betty's room, but just nodded to them. The men ignored their smiles and kept a discrete distance away, but followed the couple.  
Betty laughed, pulling Daniel's hand, as she sprinted out of the elevator, and out to the sidewalk, "I'm really hungry, but let's see if we can at least give them their exercise for the day. Come on."  
Daniel grinned at her energy. He was a bit more lethargic, having spent an uncomfortable night in a hospital chair, outside her room, standing guard, until he nodded off. And the two-hour nap, Kona coffee and shower once he had returned to the hotel hadn't come close to making up for his lack of sleep.  
She pulled him behind her, and pushed him into several 'ABC' stores along the way, giggling, trying on sunglasses, and hats while they were inside. They made several silly purchases of different goofy disguises. Finally, Betty smiled as she saw the entrance to the International Market Place.  
She looked up at Daniel, "This place is awesome! You're going to love it, Daniel. They have everything here. They have those really cool oyster shells you open and get your own pearl. Did you know that Pearl Harbor got its name because it used to have so many oysters there it was unbelievable. Now, of course, it's all about the Arizona Memorial and stuff. It's a shame. The Punchbowl Stadium has this insane flea market on Saturdays, where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs really cheap. I got you this great shirt. Kind of like the one you're wearing now, actually."  
He rolled his eyes, looking down at his shirt. "God help me, if I'm picking out clothes you agree on!"  
"Hey!" She laughed.  
"Sorry." He looked at the lush tropical entrance to the marketplace, designed to lure in tourists, looking to buy that perfect 'authentic' souvenir before they had to return to the mainland. There were booths of all kinds set up, selling everything from beach towels, and cheap hula skirts, with coconut shell bras, to the pearl vendors Betty had mentioned, and CD's with Hawaiian music, plastic ukelele's (pronounced by the locals 'oo', not 'you').  
About five hundred yards from the entrance off the main street was a beautiful, huge Banyan tree, around which everything was centered. It was amazing. There was a 'tree house' restaurant upstairs, built around it, and a lovely koi pond and water fountain alongside it, with the obligatory sign that read, "International Marketplace" where droves of tourists, couples and families were taking turns lining up to take pictures.  
Although the location of the tree house restaurant was fantastic, simply because of its view of the ocean across the street, and well, because it was essentially a tree house, it seemed kitschy and out of time somehow. It was primarily a seafood restaurant and a very casual one, at that. Families and less affluent couples ordered deep fried coconut shrimp and French fries and looked out at the same fabulous ocean views that people in much more expensive restaurants dotted along Kalakaua Avenue, the main street along Honolulu.  
It somehow reminded Daniel of the homeless communities they had seen all along the 'western' or leeward side of Oahu, and how they, too, enjoyed the same fantastic views and beaches that the multi-million dollar residents paid for.  
It was just one of the ironic twists of life in Hawaii, he reasoned. Somewhat like the fact that the view from 'their bridge', was actually nicer than the one from more affluent Manhattan.  
"Would you like me to take your picture?" A man asked. A man that Daniel recognized to be Nathan, the cab driver Betty had interviewed.  
She laughed, and hugged him, "Nathan! Aloha! How are you?"  
He grinned and smiled at her, "You da one I should be askin, sistah girl! So glad to see you okay! I was worried. So was this guy hea, fo shuh. He so scared he no gonna find you, Betty. Glad you bettah. You know who take you? It not nobody from Tony's guys. I ask around. He not worried bout you. He tink he too big fo some little girl from dah mainland to cause him no trouble.  
I hea somebody else, somebody on dah mainland askin around, tryin to see you nevah come back dere. You be careful, Betty. You gonna take care your honey girl, now, Daniel? Make sure she safe?"  
Daniel put his arm around Betty and nodded, giving Nathan a big smile as he shook his hand, "She's not leaving my side, from now on, Nathan. 'No worries, man', I'm going to keep her safe. But, do you know how we can find out more about whoever it is that is trying to kill Betty? You say they've been trying to recruit locals to take her?"  
He nodded, looking around, "Yeah. You look out. I know Five-oh watchin you, but deh not dat good. I got to you, didn't I? And I'm jus a cab driver. I not tryin to hurt you. But if I got to you, so could a bad guy, you knowadimean, brah? You gotta have two eyes in da back a yo head, you guys, eh? I ask around a little, let you know what I find out about mainland guy. Aloha, sistah Betty, aloha, Daniel! Good to see you two togethah, how you oughtta be!" He grinned, giving them the shaka sign.  
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	4. Chapters 13-20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is re-posted from FF (Ch 13-20)

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Patience Produces Peace  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 13: Patience Produces Peace  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Just to clarify, the fact that I list Daniel and Hilda as the main protagonists in this tale, does NOT mean I'm linking them romantically. This is still very much a Detty story, believe me. Eventually, anyway. Daniel just has to wait for 'the real thing'.  
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Daniel walked up to the wrap around balcony to see the mountains behind the house and the ocean on the other side. It was a great view, he thought.  
There had been some attempts to update the house, paint and flowers in the yard, at least, but mostly, it looked like a leftover from the seventies. There was indoor/outdoor carpeting tacked down onto the wood framed floorboards, and rusted patio furniture outside, next to a barbeque grill in serious need of cleaning.  
The damn roosters were annoying as hell; that was for sure. He saw Amanda sitting outside, with a blanket around her, sipping the Kona coffee she seemed to have embraced since coming to 'the island'. "Hey, Amanda. Did the stupid chickens wake you up, too? I didn't know this was zoned as a farm area. Where are they?"  
She nodded across the street. "Sadie said the house over there has been vacant ever since the explosion and the farm animals have taken it over, I guess. They woke Hilda and me up yesterday, too. I know, can you believe it? The views here look like Hawaii, all pretty and everything, but that…is ridiculous!"  
Daniel looked at the house on the other side of the street. It looked literally as if a bomb had gone off. What was left of the house that once stood there was black and there was the remnant of a garage, with lawn mowers, empty flower pots, garbage cans, and various other items strewn haphazardly across the yard. It looked like a war zone, with chickens, he thought.  
Daniel furrowed his brows, "What kind of explosion did they have over there, anyway? Did somebody actually set off a bomb? Don't tell me that Tony guy is blowing up people's houses. Jesus, what the hell happened? That place looks like World War II or something, mixed with Old MacDonald's Farm."  
She shrugged, "Sadie and that Chris guy who brought us here said whoever used to live there was always messing around with cars, fixing them up and stuff and the cops are claiming he accidentally blew himself up, having some kind of gas container that mixed with a cigarette and set it off. But from the looks Sadie and Chris were giving each other, I don't think they believe it.  
They seemed really scared about you guys. Hilda and I overheard them talking and they were afraid you were all going to get killed if you talked to those stupid guys in the car. I still don't understand why you couldn't just let the police talk to them. I was scared to death I'd never see Tyler again. Now, he wants to get a gun. He says he felt safer having one."  
Daniel sat down, and put his hand on top of hers, "Amanda, listen to me. I don't want to scare you or anything, but…Tyler says he's pretty good with a gun, so I think he might be right. We may go ahead and get him one while we're here."  
"Daniel, I know that look. What are you not telling me?"  
"I got a call from Captain Sukki last night. It turns out, it's a good thing we questioned those two when we did."  
"What do you mean?" She looked at him as if she already knew the answer.  
"They…didn't make it to the airport. The police came to take them to the plane and the guards were all knocked out and the men we questioned were dead."  
Amanda started crying. Daniel hugged her, "Hey, we're okay, Amanda. It happened after we were already back here."  
Tyler came walking upstairs holding a cup of coffee. He looked at Amanda crying, "What's wrong?" he asked Daniel.  
Daniel motioned for him to come hold her. "I just told her that Captain Sukki called me last night to tell me Jason and his big friend never made it to the airport yesterday. The guards were knocked out and the police found the two dead."  
"Seriously? Shit!" He stroked Amanda's hair, "Hey, we're okay, baby. Don't cry."  
"I can't believe how much I loved it here when we first came and Betty loved it, too, and now…I hate it! I just want to go back to New York! I want my friend back and I want to not be scared anymore. I can't believe we all thought this place was paradise. Now I wish we'd never come."  
Daniel didn't know what to say to her. He totally understood her frustration. He left it to Tyler to try and calm her down while he set about the unhappy task of filling Hilda and Bobby in on the grim news about the death of Betty's car companions. Hilda saw him starting to come down from the porch as she came out. "Hey, you're up early, Daniel. Did that crazy rooster wake you up, too? It looks like Amanda actually made some of her Kona coffee she likes here. I'm amazed she learned how to make coffee.  
But she really…likes…what's wrong? Is it Betty? You look like you've got bad news, Daniel. Please don't tell me something bad happened to her. They found her…" He sighed, and held her. God, he was really making woman cry left and right this morning!  
"No, it's not Betty, Hilda. The captain called last night and said those two we questioned were killed. The guards were knocked out. I told him the name they gave us of the guy they claimed hired them and he's checking into it."  
She looked at Daniel, "So, what you're saying is…the guy who hired them to kidnap my sister decided they were talking too much so he had them killed. Bobby said they only knew the first names of the ones who kept Betty with them?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. And a pretty vague description. Except, Matui claimed one of the guys, the younger, heavier one had what looked like some kind of tribal tattoo on his arm. You know, one of those that kind of looks like shark's teeth or whatever on his left upper arm and one of Bob Marley on his right calf. So, that's something at least."  
"The pastor gave us the names and addresses of some people he thinks might know the other two men in the car. The ones who took her. It's going to take a couple days, though. They're on opposite sides of the island. Some of the names are on the North Shore, then there are some on the windward side, and the first ones he said we should check out are at the far leeward side, in Makaha."  
"Makaha? Isn't that where our 'boys' were from? The big guys? Man, they were huge! They ate like tanks or something."  
"Yeah. We're going with them. Allen and Sadie both said there are a lot of locals out there and they might not answer questions from a bunch of us haoles. But, once they here from their own friends that we're just trying to get my sister and your uh…girlfriend back, he thinks they'll be more likely to talk to us than to the police. There's a huge homeless community there. They don't usually talk to outsiders or especially to cops. Just like on the mainland, I guess."  
"Okay. Are you alright? I seem to be making girls cry today. I left Amanda up there with Tyler once I told her about the captain's news. Should I get Bobby?"  
She shook her head, "I'm used to dealing with bad news, Daniel. I love Bobby, but…I've been on my own for a long time, don't forget. I loved Santos, too. But, I raised Justin without him for the most part. I was never alone, though. I had papi and Betty to help me.  
She's been like a second mami to that kid. He loves her like she was his mom. So, I told him, he could come tomorrow. We all made up a lie to papi, though. I don't want him coming all the way here with his health and I know he would if we told him the truth.  
We said that Justin is helping me coordinate my wedding and I love it so much here, I decided to get married here. There's one catch, though. Papi didn't want Justin to fly by himself. I mean, I know he's old enough and mature enough, but…"  
Daniel shook his head, "Are you serious? Marc's coming? Hilda, no offense, but, he's just going to slow us down, you know."  
She rolled her eyes, "Okay, maybe Marc isn't exactly your idea of Steve McGarrett or Magnum, PI or whatever it is you three tough men think you're playing at here, Daniel. But, the man's smart. He's a good person, and he's been a great mentor for my son all these years. I know you have, too, and believe me, I'm grateful. But, Marc understands Justin like no one else can. And if the man's smart enough to still stand up to Wilhelmina Slater all these years, I'd say he's pretty damn smart. Not to mention, he and Betty might have seemed to clash, but it was because they respected each other. Betty knew Marc was a big part of why that woman was able to keep you in check. Just like Betty was the only reason your spoiled ass didn't end up getting fired, even from your own family's business."  
He didn't blink, "If you're expecting an argument, you're not going to get one, Hilda. You're right. Betty is the only reason I've still got a job. I know that, believe me. And she's your sister. If you want to have Inspector Clouseau or Charlie Chan or Columbo here, trying to help find Betty, that's your business. I just know, the police aren't going to find her. I think we five are the main ones who can and will. But, I completely understand Justin wanting to help find his aunt and if Marc can help us talk to some people, I say, great, the more the merrier. Anything else?"  
She shook her head, smiling, "No. Never mind."  
"What? What's that look for?"  
"I guess I was just wondering how you got my sister to uh…loosen up so much, that's all! She never told me a lot of stuff. I told her ALL the crazy stuff I did with guys, but she was always so secretive, I had to read her diary to find out anything. But that stuff you two got up to! Uh, kudos!"  
He blushed, slightly, "Uh, I'm really not comfortable talking about this with Betty's sister, Hilda. What Betty and I did in private is between us, okay?"  
"All right, all right. I thought you were known for doing stuff in Central Park, and all over the Meade building. Now you're all of a sudden Mister Discrete? Well, I guess it's a good thing, though. I don't really know if I want it to be common knowledge what you and my sister were up to in 'private'. No offense, but your reputation might hurt Betty's good name by association."  
"Yes, I'm well aware of my reputation. And you're right. That's why Betty and I never let anyone know we were…together. I didn't want her good name to be tarnished. So, let's just keep what you know between us, okay, Hilda?"  
She nodded, "Well, Bobby knows, of course."  
"I know. I told him, no details, just that I…love Betty. Let's just leave it at that, okay? I know we're going to find Betty and I don't want her pissed at me for blabbing about the details of our uh…little love affair to everybody."  
She nodded, "I agree. I definitely don't want Amanda or Marc seeing this. Here. I got one of those thumbnail drives or flash things and put your little love fest on this and erased it from Betty's laptop, in case anybody else needs to look at it to help us find her."  
He took the flash drive carefully, "Thanks, Hilda." He smiled, "Still forgive me…for everything?"  
She nodded, "Well, you're a dirty pervert, Daniel. That's for sure. But, yeah. I still forgive you. I know you must really love my sister."  
"That's true. I really do. I don't think I knew just how much until this happened. I want her back so bad, Hilda. You have no idea. I'm not leaving here unless it's with Betty by my side, I swear to you."  
She nodded, and put her hand on his shoulder, "I believe you, Daniel. Geez, with all that stuff you two were up to, I would HOPE you really love her! I know we're gonna find her. Thanks for saying that, though. It means a lot to me." She turned to go downstairs.  
He nodded, and finished his coffee, looking at the ocean. "Where are you, Betty?"  
After a few minutes, he sat on the lanai, putting his head down, praying they would find her today. He half way expected her to 'appear' to him while he sat outside, but she didn't. So, he reluctantly headed inside as they all got dressed and piled into the huge truck with the 'Makaha Boys' and drove down through the somewhat rural areas past Nanakulu, and through Waianae.  
As they stopped at a local pawn shop on the way, in West Waianae in a small strip mall, the 'boys' asked Tyler, "We hear you want to buy a gun? You know how to handle one?"  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah. I do. I grew up in South Dakota. I learned how to handle a gun when I was twelve. I also learned it was as good as excuse as any to stay sober. One of the few times I drank and held a gun, I nearly killed some poor guy's scarecrow. His wife almost had a heart attack, thinking I was shooting at her husband. I didn't ever tell her, I thought I was."  
While Tyler went with most of the group to purchase a gun, Daniel wandered to a small park, area, next to the high school. Some of the students were surfing. He shook his head, thinking it must be difficult to stay in school, with the call of the ocean right outside.  
He saw a sheltered area, with a few trees and sat at a picnic bench, looking out at the rough surf. She came and sat next to him. "I'm…getting moved today, Daniel."  
"Moved? Where to? Not off the island? They're not flying you back to the mainland somewhere are they, Betty?"  
She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. I just woke up again. I keep falling asleep. I think they're drugging me to keep me from knowing where I am or running away. I know there are a lot of pineapples here."  
He sighed, shaking his head, "Again, sweetie, we're on Hawaii, the whole damn island has pineapples. I need more details. Do you see a guy with some tattoes?"  
She gave him a look, "Well, now YOU'RE going to have to be more specific, Daniel. Everybody here has tattoes, too."  
He nodded, "Yeah. I guess you're right. One of the guys who took you. Did he have one of those shark tooth looking tattoes on his upper left arm and a Bob Marley one on his right calf?"  
She nodded, "Yes."  
"Did the other guy call him Kavika?"  
"YES! Kavika and….something with an M…a hoaole name. Matt, Mark, Mar…"  
"Martin?"  
"YES! Daniel, the other guy called him Marty! He's not a haole, though, He's Tongan or something, I think, maybe. I think they both are. Something like that. They're not from Hawaii, that's for sure. They don't really speak pidgin. Or if they do, it's even harder for me to understand. I don't know what it is they're saying. It's really strange sounding."  
"Tongan? Are you sure, Betty?"  
"No. I'm not sure of anything, really. I just know they're definitely not from Hawaii, like the other two guys."  
He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I love you, you know."  
She smiled, "You know this doesn't really count as saying the magic three words, Daniel. You have to say this stuff to the real girl in question, not just to yourself in some park, while you're day dreaming about said girl."  
He laughed, "I know. Believe me, I'll be more than happy to say those three words to 'said girl' in question, Betty. Or Betty's hallucination. Whatever you are. You're the best girlfriend I've ever had. Even in your current form. I can't wait to do some of the stuff on this little baby to the real you, Betty." He held up the flash drive, then put it back in his pocket, quickly.  
She raised her eyebrows, "Have you been reading my file, Daniel? Getting all hot and horny?"  
He laughed, "I sneaked a peek. Hell, you know damn well I did. It's not exactly like I can really 'sneak' anything past you, is it? I still can't believe you actually wrote some of that stuff, Betty. Do I really 'inspire' you that much? I gotta say, it's pretty flattering. Especially the way Hilda was telling me you were always so straight-laced before you met me. I guess I was a bad influence on you, huh? Making you have such a dirty mind."  
She came and sat next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders, and kissing his neck. "As far as SHE knows, I was straight-laced. She just always had a bigger mouth than me, that's all. She told me she used to dream about 'going at it' with some guy in cake batter! See, I'm not the only freak in my family, Daniel. And don't flatter yourself too much. I was always repressed. When you're the ugly girl all through school, fantasy is all you have, believe me. And ugly girls get…frisky, too. We just have less opportunities to act out our fantasies. So, they get more elaborate, I guess."  
He turned to her and looking around, to make sure no one was close enough to see him, he leaned forward to kiss her deeply. She smiled, "What was that for?"  
He whispered, "I just wanted you to know. You've never been the 'ugly girl' as far as I'm concerned, Betty."  
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Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Memories and Madness  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Warning, be prepared for some of Betty's 'Life with D' file. Don't worry, just a quick tease, none of the really 'bad' stuff!  
Chapter 14: Memories and Madness  
Daniel walked into his office and gave me a look that told me he needed me. So, I walked in and closed the door behind me, smiling at him and pulling the curtains shut to face him.  
I looked at him, seeing his eyes, usually bright, were dark and dangerous looking today, so I threw my glasses down, climbing up onto his desk, positioning myself just the way he likes me when he's feeling especially dirty (which, let's face it, was pretty much every day, lately).  
I started to tease him like I usually did, but I saw immediately how ready for me he was, so I took control of him, watching him close his eyes in delight, while he kissed me slow and lingeringly, using one hand to get me…"Damn, Brah! That's some hot sh…who write that stuff? You're girlfriend write that about you?"  
Daniel cleared his throat, and closed out the file he had been 'reading' on his tablet. He pulled out the flash drive and shoved it deep inside his pocket. He hadn't seen the high school boy who had evidently been surfing nearby and come up behind him, to start reading over his shoulder.  
The kid grinned at him, knowingly. Then held out his hand for some kind of complicated hand-shaking, fist bumping procedure he was too old to really understand. He tried to follow along and the young man laughed at his half-hearted attempts.  
He motioned to Daniel's tablet. "That stuff really happen? To you? Lucky guy! Who the wahine? Your girl sounds hot, brah! She not a local girl, eh? She a hoale, too? You a tourist, right? You know, the city's that way, brah. You lost or somethin?"  
"No. I'm not really a tourist. My friends and I are on our way to Makaha."  
"Makaha? What a bunch of hoales doin goin to Makaha? Thea one resort wif golf and stuff thea, I guess. You like it. If you into golf. You wahine what write that stuff wif you today? I wanna meet huh!"  
"Yeah, I want to see her, too. That's why we're headed to Makaha, to talk to some locals about her disappearance last Thursday night. She got kidnapped just outside the Hawaiian Hilton, in front of the statue of The Duke. We're pretty sure somebody slipped her drugs and got her to get into a blue 2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible with a black top that night. They stopped and let out two guys at the airport, then took her somewhere else. The two that got out went to the Big Island and now, they're both dead."  
The boy's eyes grew huge, "Damn, brah! You fo real? You ain't no five-oh?"  
"Five…oh, you mean a cop? God, no. I'm a magazine editor from New York. Betty is an editor who works with me and…yeah, she's my wahine or honey girl or girlfriend, whatever you guys call it over here. I'm with her sister and brother-in-law and some friends and her nephew's on his way, too. We all love and miss her very much. Here's what she looks like." He showed the boy a recent picture of Betty from his phone.  
"She's cute, brah. I don't know nothin, though, sorry. Hope you guys find huh."  
"Okay, but wait, let me ask you, do you know these guys? They are the ones that were with her in the car, and ended up dead last night." He showed him the mug shots of Justin Matui and Taavili Tapu.  
The young man shook his head, then squinted, "That guy look a little familiar, though. The haole. I see him around hea before, I tink, brah. The other guy, I don't know, sorry."  
Daniel nodded, "Thanks, anyway. All I know about the other two guys who took her after these two got out of the car is they are big, too, and not Hawaiians, maybe Tongan? The one's name is Kavika and the other one, Marty, has one of the shark-tooth tattoos on his left arm and a Bob Marley one on his right calf."  
He shook his head, "I don't know anybody like that, brah. But, I might know who do that Bob Marley tattoo. Maybe she can tell you who get it. She the only one I know can do that kine thing. She real good artist."  
"The tattoo artist is a girl?"  
"Shure, why not?"  
Daniel shrugged, "I guess. Do you know her name and where I can find her?"  
"Sure, she Auntie Liz. Liz work in the tattoo place right next to pawn shop at da Bank in da mall."  
"You mean the Bank of America at Waianae Mall, just across the street, down there, across Farrington Highway, right?"  
The boy looked at Daniel, smiling, "Yeah, brah. There ain't no oddah mall hea. Just ask fo Auntie Liz. Tell huh I say hi! She do me real good one, right hea, see?" The boy showed Daniel his tattoo on his left leg. "She like use leg, cause it give huh mo room ta draw du face, eh?"  
"Yeah, that's really good. She's a good artist. Thanks, I'm sorry, what was your name?"  
"Kekoa. It means brave. Like me. I gonna go to college, brah. Be one Hawaiian Warrior."  
"Yeah, One of the guys we're with is on that team. Have you heard of Maalu uh…shit…I think his last name is Kine? Or Kline, maybe?"  
Kekoa laughed, "I don think so, brah. You probably just hea somebody say kine. That mean…" he shrugged, "Whatevah, mean, sorta, kind of…it like when you talk story and you forget what you sayin, and you say, uh…or um…we jus say, kine…like that, understand?"  
Daniel nodded, thinking, sure, it was clear as mud, like most of the 'pidgin' stuff he had heard.  
Suddenly, the young man's eyes grew huge, "Oh, shit! Maalu Davies? That who wif you, brah! Wow, Daniel, right? Daniel, can I get da brah's autograph?"  
Maalu and Topi, along with the rest of Daniel's 'gang' were headed towards him. He smiled, introducing Kekoa to his idol.  
After 'talking story' to everyone for a few minutes, they all left the young man to go bragging to a group of his friends. They had left pictures of Betty with him, and Kekoa took Daniel's card and promised to 'ask around' about Betty and the men she had been seen with when she disappeared.  
Daniel noticed as they got back in the truck, Tyler seemed a little nervous. He teased, "So, are you armed, now, Brah?"  
Tyler nodded, showing him discretely the pistol he had purchased at the pawn shop that he had tucked into his pants. Daniel looked around nervously, "Is that like registered or whatever? Is it legal?"  
Tyler shook his head, "Not really, no. But, I don't think we have any three days for a 'waiting period', do you? Not with guys we talk to ending up dead later the same day after we question them."  
Daniel nodded in agreement. "No, I guess you're right. Are you…comfortable holding that, Tyler?"  
"Yeah, well, I'm a little worried about it not being legal, I guess, but I figure this is one of those situations where you do what you need to do and ask forgiveness later, you know?"  
Daniel agreed, "Yeah, you're right. We need some kind of 'equalizer' dealing with the kine guys we been dealing wif, brah!" he smiled.  
Tyler raised his eyebrows, "What the hell was that? You becoming what do they call it here, Kama'aina, now, BRAH?" he laughed.  
Daniel smiled, "Yeah, brah. Hang loose!" he did his shaka hand, and started to hit Tyler's arm, but Tyler shook his head, menacingly and pointed to the gun, grinning.  
Daniel shook his head, "Shit, don't get pissed off at me, man! I'm your friend, remember, you're brother."  
Tyler raised his eyebrow, teasingly, "I don't know, Daniel. You WERE hugging my girlfriend this morning when I came upstairs. I know you two used to 'hang out'."  
Daniel put his hand up, "Whoa, no way, I handed her off to you. I just made her cry, so I comforted her. Amanda and I are…just strictly friends, now, Tyler. You know that. No more 'fun buddy' crap."  
Tyler laughed, "I know, I'm just yanking your chain, Daniel. There better not be any more of that 'crap' going on. By the way, I hear there's some 'kine' of 'sexy stories' or something of you and Betty that used to be on Betty's lap top? What's up with that?"  
"Nothing. Where did you hear that?"  
He leaned over, whispering. Amanda was asleep, inside the truck, with Hilda. "Amanda told me she heard Hilda talking to Bobby about something she put on a flash drive for you. What the hell is it? It's not a sex video of you and Betty, is it?"  
Daniel made a face, "No, of course not. Don't be stupid. I don't know what Amanda thought she heard, but she heard wrong. I don't have any 'sex tape' of me and Betty."  
Tyler could tell Daniel wasn't being entirely honest, "Sure, Daniel. You are so easy to read, man. You totally squint and raise your eyes funny when you lie, Daniel. I can tell you're lyin right now. So, what is it?"  
Daniel shook his head and 'zipped' his lips, "It's private. That's between me and my…wahine, okay, brah? I don't ask you to tell me about you and Amanda, do I? I'm sure you don't want to know about her and I when we were together. So, let's just forget it."  
Tyler nodded, clearly still a bit curious, "Okay, Daniel. Whatever. Sounds kind of kinky, though. You better hope Marc doesn't get wind of anything. He's relentless. I think he actually has video of me and Amanda. The guy's insane. I think he is just so used to needing to have 'dirt' on everybody, working for Wilhelmina, that he doesn't know how else to act."  
Daniel started to get a little nervous, hoping Marc didn't get his hands on Betty's fantasies. There were some things better left behind closed doors, he thought, smiling at the most recent 'excerpt' from her little 'diary' he had just read earlier. He wondered if he could go to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor or something from what that kid had been reading over his shoulder, while he was too engrossed to notice. (and wondered how fast a reader the kid was).  
Daniel had told them Kekoa's lead about 'Auntie Liz', the tattoe artist who specialized in Bob Marley, particularly on legs, so they backtracked to the 'mall' to see if she could give them more information about 'Marty', at least if he might be Tongan or not. (Daniel hadn't told anyone Betty was the one who suggested that, he let them assume Captain Sukki had).  
They arrived at the mall, seeing a Little Cesar's Pizza franchise, the 'Makaha Boys' looked at, smelling hungrily. Daniel shook his head and handed Tyler some money, "Here, go feed those two, will you? I think it's there two o'clock feeding. Jesus, they're like newborns or something. They have to eat every few hours. Then, maybe they can help us talk to this tattoo lady. She probably won't want to talk to a bunch of us 'haoles' without them."  
Tyler nodded and a few minutes later, came back to the truck, eating happily along with the 'boys', and handing out pizza slices to everyone. "You hungry, Daniel?"  
"Sure. Why not?" He looked around, thinking if only his Betty could see him now, she'd laugh her ass off. Here he was, wearing shorts, and a tee shirt he had been given by Sadie, both of which reeked garage sale, along with sandals, and now he was sitting in the back of a huge truck (Daniel didn't have a clue what make, other than it was a Chevy, maybe? He didn't know cars), and now he was eating cheap pizza in 'said' truck! How the high and mighty had fallen, he thought. He was certainly 'hanging loose'! He didn't care about what he wore, though, or what he ate, or what he rode in, right now, all he really gave a shit about was getting his Betty back.  
His beautiful, crazy, smiling, somewhat perverted, apparently, little Betty, back safe and sound, in his arms. He would have given away half his shares in Meade Publications right now, just for one of 'his' Betty's sweet hugs. Every day he went without actually seeing her face, hearing her voice, touching her, he was growing more and more depressed. It was sick and twisted, perhaps, but the little sex fantasies she had written about him and his daily visions of her were the only things that were keeping him from doing something…not good right now.  
He felt very dark, like he had in his dark days after Molly's death. But then, even as bad as things got with the crazy cult and all that nonsense, he still had that light at the end of his tunnel of darkness, his sweet Betty. Her voice had literally brought him back from the brink then, he remembered, seeing Molly, then suddenly realized, it wasn't Molly at all, but Betty, right there, in his arms, with him kissing her.  
He wished he could somehow snap out of this nightmare, too and wake up, kissing her again, with her safe and warm in his arms, protecting her from anything bad. He hated that he had no idea who had her or what they might do (or have already done).  
He mainly just felt like punching someone. He was glad it was Tyler and not him with the gun right now, because he didn't know if he could trust himself with one at this point. He felt just as angry and frustrated as he had after returning from Thailand. (Or when those morons at the airport had lost some of Molly's ashes).  
Tyler seemed to sense Daniel's despondent mood, and tried to cheer him up, "So, no clues about the sex thing, huh? How about you tell me about the first time you met Betty, then?"  
"The first time?" he laughed, "She ran into a glass door. I was nervous as hell. It was my first day as Editor-in-chief, and I had just started my little speech, then here comes Betty, running into the door. She fell down, blam! I asked if she was alright, then tried to keep going with my speech, but her damn braces were blaring in my face, so instead of shoes, I said 'teeth', then later, after Wilhelmina made me feel like a stupid little two-year old child or something, calling me 'Danny' and shit, Betty came and officially introduced herself.  
I asked who she worked for and she said she worked for me. She looked crazy. She had these wild, bushy eyebrows and some nutty outfit on and that insane poncho. You know the one in the glass case now, over her desk? She actually thought that was stylish on her first day at Mode.  
Yeah, she's sure come a long way. Now, she's cute and sweet and sexy and…God, I miss her."  
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Chapter 15: Chapter 15: HumilityAcceptanceSecurity  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 15: Dishonor/Rejection/Anger vs Humility/Acceptance/Security  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Warning…this gets sort of explicit (in a virtual kind of way).  
At this point, Tyler honestly couldn't picture Daniel ever leaving the island without knowing what had happened to Betty. He fully believed that Daniel would stay here, forever if she were never found. He had never seen a man more focused or determined.  
He watched as Daniel rubbed his eyes and put his hand on the man's back, asking softly, "You okay, Daniel? You get any sleep last night?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. A little, thanks. I slept okay until that damn rooster woke me up. Did you see that place across the street? Looks like they were testing missiles or something. I don't think Sadie or Chris believed the whole 'accident' thing the police told them about the neighbor and how he bought it, from what Amanda told me."  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah, that place was a mess! I agree, it doesn't seem like it was an accident. If the guy had worked on cars his whole life, he would surely know not to have lit cigarettes around combustible fuels. Sadie said she knew the guy for years, he didn't even smoke."  
Daniel looked at Tyler, grinning, "Man, who ARE you? You know that you're a bartender/model from South Dakota transplanted to New York, Tyler. You're not…a cop here. Don't let the gun give you a big head."  
Tyler laughed, "Okay, alright. Look who's talking, mister tough man, leaning on the bad guys to get information, acting all intense and shit! Whatever Bobby told you about finding your 'tough guy chi' or whatever really worked; you had me ready to piss my pants over there, Daniel!"  
He laughed, "Me? Bobby's the tough one, grabbing guys by the throat, like that! You know, Betty told me his family supposedly has real mob connections. I can see it. He's the real badass of our little group."  
Tyler nodded, "Yeah, he is. He doesn't even need a gun to scare people. Hey, wow…look at this place, will you?" They were driving along the two-lane Farrington 'highway' to see homeless tents as far as the eye could see. People had couches and chairs, barbeque grills and coolers, even televisions and refrigerators somehow hooked up to electricity.  
There were kids, running around, people fishing, laughing, having 'luaus', talking to one another just like nothing was wrong. Life went on, apparently. They didn't seem upset to be 'homeless', they just lived their lives. Many had cars, some older and falling apart, some nicer, even some big trucks.  
The two brothers looked at each other, trying to wrap their heads around the reality of this environment. The "Makaha Boys" got out and started 'talking story' to several people, laughing with them. Gradually, Daniel and Tyler joined Hilda, Bobby, and Amanda in getting out of the truck and walking over to their new friends, asking about Betty, and the four 'brahs' she had last been seen with, the two now dead and the two believed to still have her.  
They had learned from 'Aunty Liz' that Marty wasn't Tongan at all. His companion Kavika was, but these people and Liz all confirmed, Marty had come to Hawaii only very recently, looking to make some quick, easy, 'big money' so he could get back to his family.  
"But you don't know wea the brah from, eh?" Maalu asked some of the locals. The all shook their heads.  
"No. Not from the islands, though. He no Tongan, like Kavika. No from Samoa, or any island I tink. Me hear him speak some kine stuff, Kavika learn from his uddah friend, like some shit wif his brah he hang wif, you remembah. Him was in duh army or some shit like dat!"  
"Oh, you mean da guy in duh Air Force, I tink."  
"Great, do you remember his name?"  
Bobby, Tyler, and the girls were somewhat impressed that Daniel seemed to be following their conversation a lot better than they were.  
The large Hawaiian man looked at Daniel, "You not cops, eh?"  
Daniel shook his head, and showed him Betty's picture, his eyes moist, and his voice ragged with emotion, "No, we're not cops. We're her friends and family is all. That's her sister and brother-in-law. Amanda's her close friend, and Tyler's her boyfriend. And I'm…Betty's…my girlfriend. And I'm not leaving this island without her.  
I know she's alive and I have to get her back before Tony Martin or possibly some other guy we don't even know named George Markus from the mainland hurts her or…worse! So far, we have no idea why she was kidnapped.  
I'd pay any ransom if they asked for one, but no one has contacted us about that. All we know is…we HAVE to get her back. So, can you please help us? Any information you can think of that will help us figure out where Kavika and Marty might have taken her; somewhere they might think was safe from the cops? Did Kavika have any friends or family he would go to if he was in trouble, maybe?"  
Bobby, Hilda, Amanda, and Tyler all watched Daniel, impressed with how much he seemed to be communicating so effectively with the locals and appealing to them on a very emotional and personal level.  
Many people living in the community had gathered around as he was talking about Betty and they were all clearly affected by Daniel's heartfelt appeal for his 'wahine'. At first, although the pictures of Betty and the two men that had been killed were passed around, along with word of the two who had taken her; no one seemed to recognize them.  
But, as the group started to leave, somewhat disheartened, with many of the people hugging and kissing Hilda and Daniel, and telling them they would pray for Betty's safe return, an older man with grisled features, and black, coarse hair, streaked with grey, pulled Daniel aside, "Hey, brah, I sorry about you wahine. I don't know wea she is, but I talk to huh once, in the city."  
"You were in Honolulu and you talked to Betty there? Do you remember when?"  
The man thought for a minute. "Tuesday, I tink. I go dea on da bus. She ask me if I tink it worth it to stay hea. I tell huh, wea else I gonna go?" The man smiled a fairly toothless grin.  
Daniel nodded and smiled back, somehow taking a small measure of comfort in recognizing Betty's questions. He was about to leave, but the older man put his hand on Daniel's arm, "I tink I know wea dat Marty come from, brah. He from wea dey got dem elephants and lions and stuff. Kavika always talk about them. You know what I mean, brah?"  
"Elephants and lions? You mean AFRICA? The guy is from Africa? Are you sure?"  
The man nodded, "Yeah, brah. Africa! Dat it!"  
Daniel looked at the man in shock for a moment, then thanked him. He made his way back through the crowd to share what he had learned with the others.  
They gathered quickly and headed back to the house in Nanakuli.  
Daniel was frantically pacing in his room as they all waited while the police were supposed to be calling soon to share what they had learned about the local men believed to possibly still have Betty as well as checking out the new information they had learned in Makaha.  
"Whoa, slow down, Daniel. You're going to wear a hole in the floor. My sister is busy with Bobby on the floor below, and I don't think you want to drop in on them right now. Or maybe you do? I never really asked if you were into four ways. Threeways, definitely, I know I've seen you plenty of times with two or more girls, but another guy? I don't think you're into that at all. You're strictly a ladies' man, right?"  
He ignored her teasing, "Hilarious, Betty. Listen, is what that old guy right…Africa? You couldn't tell the difference between a guy from Tonga and one from Africa, for chrissakeses? They're only a couple of freaking continents apart and the people look nothing alike! The Marty guy is probably some black guy from Mogadishu or something and Kavika can speak to him because he learned the language from his military buddy."  
"Very clever, Daniel. You really should be cops. You could do your own version of Mod Squad. Tyler carries the gun and Bobby questions people and you give them all fashion tips!"  
He wasn't amused at her playful attitude. "What is wrong with you? Don't you want us to find YOU? Stop acting like a silly kid and tell me something that's actually going to help me, will you?"  
She ignored him and started dancing the hula, "I'm ignoring you when you act mean, Daniel." She started dancing around him and putting her hands around his waist from behind, and stuck her head around to kiss his chest.  
He pulled her away, holding her out by her wrists at arms' length, "I'm ignoring YOU, Betty! Stop with the I Dream of Jeanie shit and try to give me some useful information. I don't want you, I want Betty. I want my Betty. The real woman, okay? A little make believe hula girl fantasy version of you just doesn't cut it for me anymore. This is serious stuff."  
She sat down on the bed, discouraged, and looked down, putting her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm not ever good enough for you, Daniel. I thought this was what you wanted. I know I was never what you were looking for before, either. I tried to believe those fantasies I had might come true someday, but I was just fooling myself, I guess. You could always have any girl you wanted, why on earth would you ever want me?"  
He sighed, sitting down behind her, and put his hand on top of hers, "Betty"  
She turned to him, "I'm not really her, remember? Just forget it! You think you're so smart, Magnum, PI, try to figure things out yourself! You don't need me, obviously, I'm not helping you. I didn't say BOTH guys were from Tonga, necessarily.  
Kavika was, wasn't he? I told you I was drugged, here. I'm having a hard time telling the difference between what's reality and what isn't right now. I would think you of all people would understand that, Daniel. I'm not Molly, either. I'm not dead. At least not YET!"  
He looked like he was fighting tears, but he kept his voice low and even, although he couldn't hide his emotion, "Betty, I know you're not Molly. I know she's gone and you're not. Don't you see, that's why I feel like I'm losing my mind here, I can't lose you, too. I just can't. They might as well lock me up in the nut house.  
I wanted her to not be gone, but deep down, I knew she was. But you…you're really out there somewhere, and I have to get you back. But, I'd rather spend all day and night, just having these fantasies of you and trying to live out the stuff you wrote about wanting to do with me, than go back to a 'real life' that didn't include you in some form. I just miss you so bad right now, I can't…think straight anymore. You don't know what your smile did for me everyday, Betty. I lived for it. It made everything seem…"  
"Groovy?" She grinned, then made a serious face, "Sorry. I know, you're being serious now, Daniel. And that's very sweet of you to say. I'm sorry I was being silly before. I know you're trying to find me. You all are. You're doing great, too. I was so proud of you today." She put her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him, "You really touched those people. They'll all be looking for me now. You were amazing today out there. You're starting to get the pidgin a little better, I noticed." She smiled.  
He shrugged, and smiled back at her, "I guess, if I listen closely, I can almost understand it a little now. You were always better at languages than me, though. Even English, miss editor."  
"Hey, you are still the Editor-in-chief, though, Daniel." She teased. "Enjoy reading about our office fun today, sweetie?"  
He gave her a seductive smile and pushed her up onto the bed, lying on top of her, "Care to act out day thirty-four of your journal with me, Miss?"  
She giggled, "Hey, like you said, Master darling, I'm your little Jeanie, right? Your wish is my command."  
He kissed her deeply, feeling himself get lost in her scent. It really did feel like she was right here with him. He let himself get lost in the feel of her smooth, voluptuous body underneath his. He didn't care if he was dreaming. All he knew was, he needed to feel Betty.  
He wanted her more than any woman he had ever been with before. He had to have her, to be with her, to touch her face, to feel her hair, her lips on his right now. He didn't care if she was real or not. He held her tightly against him, sliding his hand between her thighs and smiling wickedly as she gasped in delight, while he kissed her feverishly.  
He nuzzled her neck and saw her closing her eyes and moaning as he continued his exploration of her body. She whispered, "Somebody's being a very nice boy, but don't you need some tending to yourself, sweetie?"  
He nodded, and allowed her to move him onto his back. He closed his eyes as she started kissing her way up his legs, removing his sandals, and shorts, and giggling, "Interesting fashion choices today, Daniel. Very bold!"  
"Look who's talking." He opened one eye, but grinned and continued to enjoy her taking care of him.  
She giggled, but pretended to pout, "Are you making fun of me? Watch what you say now, Daniel. I have you in a very vulnerable position right now."  
He looked down at her, then put his head back, with his hands clasped behind his neck, closing his eyes again "I'm not saying anything right…now… you just keep on doing what you're doing there, oh, God, Betty, babe, yeah, that's…so…uh…great…"  
He almost jumped off the bed when his phone rang. He looked all around and was of course, alone. He shook himself off and sat up, grabbing his phone from the night stand. "Shit!... HELLO!"  
"Hello, Mr. Meade?"  
"Yeah, who's this?"  
"A friend."  
"A friend of whose? Mine?"  
"Yes. But also…Betty's. I know how to help you find her."  
Daniel stood up, "You have my attention."  
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Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Friendship is closer  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 16: Respect/Admiration/Friendship is closer than you think  
Daniel dressed quickly and started yelling for everyone to come on with him to meet this self-declared 'friend' of his and Betty's.  
"Did they tell you their name?" Bobby asked.  
"Yeah. It's some guy in the Air Force. He's stationed at Hickam, but he said he actually lives near Pearl Harbor, with his sister. They're both Hawaiian, or half Hawaiian, or something. I think his dad was ex-military, too, and their mom was a local he met here. His name is Hekili Johnson, and his sister's name is uh…Kailani, I think.  
He said he doesn't know Kavika or Marty, but his sister is the one who supposedly has some important information about Betty. But she didn't tell him the whole story and she said she wants to talk to us. She met Betty in the beginning of the week. She was one of the people Betty interviewed for her story."  
"About the cruise line fashions?" Amanda looked puzzled.  
Hilda shook her head, "No, Daniel means the real story Betty was working on. The one that she must have pissed somebody off about asking too many nosy questions or something."  
"We don't know that, Hilda." Daniel seemed happy and excited, and he didn't want Hilda bringing him down. He was just thrilled to finally have someone willing to talk to them who had actually met Betty and who might very well be able to lead them to her.  
"You, of all people should be pissed about her butting in where her nose didn't belong, I would think, Daniel. I mean, she didn't even tell you about doing this story on her own. I actually saw a file on her computer about how she was planning to try and trick you…"  
"Trick me into publishing her story, and didn't really care about the fashions? Yeah, I know, Hilda. I saw ALL the stuff on her computer, remember?" He gave her a warning look. "I just know she did…does what she loves to do and I'm not going to be mad at her for following her passion.  
I only feel bad that she felt like she had to hide it from me like that. I just wish she would have told me how she really felt. About…a lot of things." He met Hilda's gaze and she looked at him not fully comprehending his meaning.  
He didn't care. He knew Hilda thought what he let her believe, that those things had really happened between her sister and him. He felt like he better understood now how frustrated Betty must have been, not only about the path her career had taken, but about her feelings for him. Part of him wished he could share that with somebody.  
But, he still felt like he would better protect Betty's privacy, and better solicit the help of others in finding her if he let them believe they had been seriously involved. Besides, as soon as they found her, he knew things had to change drastically between them; after all they had both been through, and especially after what he now knew about her feelings.  
He found himself actually getting hopeful about seeing her again, and really being able to talk to her, looking forward to teasing her about her writing. He desperately wanted to make all her dreams come true. Her career, their relationship, everything. He couldn't wait to do that for her as soon as he found her.  
"Come on! Let's go! We need to get going. This guy is waiting to get new orders soon, so he's not going to be here for long, he said. And he seemed to imply his sister is kind of weird about talking to haoles she doesn't know, so we need him as our way to get to her."  
"What is all this 'anti-haole' vibe from some people, anyway? I didn't really feel like anybody hated us because we weren't Hawaiians the whole time we were in Waikiki, but I saw some pretty mean signs here and over in Waianae. What did we do to piss them off?" Hilda seemed genuinely puzzled.  
Daniel shrugged, "Well, I'm not sure, but from what I read in Betty's research, there does seem to be some anti-haole sentiment here on the West side of Oahu, at least, in Waianae, here, Waipahu, and a few other places.  
She wrote that she found out about how Hawaii was colonized, huge parts of the population killed off with smallpox, then annexed against their will, locking up that poor Queen, you know Lili kulani, or whatever her name was, the one who wrote Aloha Oi, you know, the one that you see stuff about all over here. Anyway, they really loved her and she was treated like some criminal, locked up in her own palace and everything.  
Betty said that the only real strong anti-haole sentiments seemed to be more against those who just blow into the island, totally ignorant of the culture and history, and who try to take over things, buying up everything and pushing the Hawaiians off their own land. Sort of like the Native Americans, I guess. She said making it just a race thing was oversimplifying it. That there's actually a pretty healthy respect for diversity here, with all the different cultures."  
Hilda looked proud, "I guess you really did read EVERYTHING she wrote, huh, Daniel? Not just the 'juicy stuff'. I suppose I underestimated how much you care for my sister."  
He smiled, but hurried them out, "Yeah, I guess so. So, come on, let's go!" They all grinned at his enthusiasm. Tyler squeezed Amanda's hand, and leaned over to her, "I'm glad to see him so happy and hopeful. I really hope this Air Force guy and his sister know something useful. I'm getting really worried with how long it's taking us to find her. I just hope she doesn't need medical attention or anything, you know?"  
Amanda teared up a bit, "Tyler, don't say that! Don't even think it, okay? I know Betty's going to be okay. She's going to be just like normal, eating something and telling us some boring facts about things we don't really care about and…and she's going to be FINE, okay? I don't want to hear anything about anything else as even a possibility, got it?"  
He hugged her, "I'm sorry, Mandy. You're right. I know she's going to be just fine. I'm sure this is going to lead us to her."  
She nodded, wiping her tears, and moved away from him, looking down, "I never thought I'd actually say this, but is that your gun, Tyler, or are you just happy to see me?"  
He laughed, "Uh, sorry, it's probably the gun, baby. Although, I am always very happy to see you. Maybe just not THAT happy, right this minute, anyway. We'll get to that as soon as we get back, and hopefully have something to celebrate, alright?"  
She nodded, smiling through her tears. He couldn't help but think it might not be so bad to have Marc here in some ways. Amanda seemed on edge and like she didn't even want to entertain the possibility that Betty might not be found. While he certainly hadn't given up hope himself, he was extremely worried about Amanda, Hilda, and definitely Daniel's mental state if that possibility turned out to be the reality they faced.  
They made their way through the busy King Kamehameha highway to the almost industrial area where Hekili told Daniel he lived with his sister. After getting a little turned around and almost going into the Punch Bowl, then towards the Arizona Memorial, Bobby managed to find the street, behind a strip mall. There was a small, rundown apartment complex. The buildings had all been painted the color of baby aspirin, sort of a cross between orange and pink and the complex was in dire need of fresh paint (in any color) as well as quite a few serious renovations, and updating to be anything approaching decent-looking.  
There were many abandoned and shabby-looking cars parked around the over-crowded complex. As the group looked at one another, Amanda said what most of them were thinking, "What a dump!"  
They laughed, but Daniel looked at her, with a serious look, "Hey, knock it off. We don't know what these people have been through here. Let's just see what they know about Betty, okay? We were just in a homeless community. I guess a lot of those people would love to have a roof like this over their head, you know?"  
Bobby agreed with Daniel, "Yeah. Daniel's right. We have no idea how much a lot of those people have been through. Or these folks, either. Let's just talk to the guy and his sister and see what they can tell us. Besides, if the guy's military, I got respect for him, that's for sure."  
Amanda looked guilty, as did Hilda. "You're right." Hilda said. She squeezed Bobby's arm. "I just pray they can help us find Betty. I miss her so much!"  
He hugged her, "I know you do, baby. We'll find her, don't worry. Daniel, lead the way, man."  
"Sure." He texted Hekili to let him know they had arrived and as soon as they knocked, they were greeted by a young, handsome man, in an Air Force uniform.  
"Hi, everyone. Come on in. I know the place is a wreck, sorry. I'm not here much, I get bounced around a lot and my sister…well, she's been through a lot. She lost her husband not that long ago and she's had some problems getting back on her feet. That's one reason I came here to try and help her out a little. Can I get you guys anything to drink? Tea, water, uh…beer?"  
Bobby nodded, "Sure, I'll take a beer if you got one. Thanks!"  
The man disappeared for a minute, then tossed Bobby a can. "Here you go, uh, have a seat, everybody. Let's talk for a minute, then I'll go get my sister."  
Hilda blurted out, "So, why does your sister hate us? Just because we're not Hawaiian? As a Latina woman, I find it weird that I'm being lumped with a bunch of 'white people' here, sorry guys, but, you know what I mean."  
"I don't think Hawaiians hate haoles as much as they resent them for the way so many of them (not all, but a lot) have a "MOVE OVER CAUSE I'M TAKING OVER!" kind of attitude. True, it's wrong to generalize and it's wrong to be prejudiced and hate. And I certainly know not all haoles have that kind of attitude.  
I'm only part Hawaiian, myself. I'm what you call here a hapa. My girlfriend and some of my best friends are haole and sooo modest and not li'dat at all, but I guess it's just that after you see that kind of attitude enough it's hard not to get that feeling like... oh no here we go again, sometimes.  
It's like if you go to a restaurant, you order eggs and they taste bad, and it happens three times in a row, it makes you just want to stay away from eggs even if you know there are good ones out there. But when it comes to people we have to make ourselves say, I'm going to try these eggs out anyway and be fair cause maybe they won't be like the last three, even though you might be cringing and going, please, please, please don't let these turn out like the last ones!  
And I do think it's horrible that some kids get beat up here just because they're haole. There's no excuse for that...  
My sister's is actually my half-sister. My dad was American military, but Kailani's dad was a local, so she's native Hawaiian. She loves me, though, we're ohana, you know, family, so…she knows not all hoales, or us hapas are bad. She's just been through a lot. Let's just say, she's had some bad experiences that made her a little distrustful. But she really liked Betty when she met her the other day and said she wants to help her family find her."  
"How can she help us?" Daniel looked at Hekili, with hope and urgency in his eyes.  
"Well, like I told you on the phone, your girlfriend interviewed Kailani just the day before and she said Betty talked to her after she left the restaurant and just before she went out to the car Thursday night. So, she was probably the last one to see Betty alive."  
Daniel and the others exchanged concerned glances, "What the hell do you mean alive? What did Betty say to her?"  
He shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like she's not STILL alive now. Hang on, let me just go get Kailani and let her tell you what she and Betty said to each other, okay? I'm probably just messing things up, trying to get in the middle. But, I was afraid she would be too freaked out to talk to you guys, even though she wanted to tell you what she found out. Hold on. I'll be right back."  
"I hope this chick actually knows something." Hilda bit her lip, looking worried. "You don't think they're just out for money or something, do you? Like this is some kind of scam? I mean, why didn't she go to the police?"  
Daniel leaned forward and whispered, "He said the police must not have realized she talked to Betty, so they didn't question her and she doesn't have a TV, as you can see, so she didn't know Betty was missing until her brother mentioned to her that he had heard something about a tourist that had disappeared Thursday.  
She still didn't realize it was Betty until one of the people in the homeless community she volunteers at happened to say something about us and Betty and she put the pieces together. She brought my card home and talked to her brother and he convinced her to talk to us directly. She's a little suspicious of the police, for some reason. Look, let's not judge until we talk to her, okay?  
Frankly, I'd almost like to get a ransom note, at least I'd know for sure it was all just about money and Betty was okay and I could just pay them and get her back, you know?"  
Hilda nodded. She just hated to get her hopes up only to be dashed, now.  
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Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Honesty, trust, confidence  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 17: Honesty/Trust/Confidence  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: This is the author's note I put on the very first paragraph of the first chapter of this story, "Just remember, this is as usual for me, a Detty romance." Not to mention, if you read my actual story description, you will see I said it is *Detty with a twist.  
Have a little bit of patience and faith, please! I will give you a BIG, huge hint, if you are a fan at all of the excellent (and extremely adorable) Mark Ruffalo, think: JLH. Although, you'll find out some important things in this very chapter, I promise. LOL! And here we go….  
"You Daniel, brah? You Betty's love, eh?" A tall, Hawaiian woman, with a large build and a soft, kind face came in the room. She looked nothing like her half-brother, except for her mouth. She smiled kindly at Daniel and the others, and hugged Daniel, kissing him on both cheeks.  
He smiled, "Uh, yeah. I'm Daniel. And I do love Betty, very much. What can you tell us about that night? Do you have any idea where she might be? What happened to her?"  
She shook her head, "She not dead. She need our help, though."  
"How do you know that? Did you talk to the people who took her?" Hilda was growing impatient with the woman's vague teases.  
She shook her head, "I nevah talk to them kine guys. They bad news. I try and warn huh that night. But she no make any sense when she tell me she gonna go wif some guys she just met. See about some story she wanna write. I know somma guys, I see her talk to once. They jus stupid, silly guys what hang around places they oughtta not be. They not really mean, but not smart enuff to stay outta trouble, eh?"  
Daniel pulled out the mug shots of Justin and Taavilli and she nodded, "Yeah, I see them before. She get in da car wif them? They gone now, right?"  
Daniel looked at the woman's brother, "Did the police release that information to the public yet? How did you know that? I didn't say they were dead, did I?"  
"You did to the people in Makaha, remember, Daniel?" Bobby reminded him.  
"Oh, right."  
Hekili pointed to Kailani, "My sister knows things, though. She sees things. I know it might be hard for you to believe, but she said she's seen Betty's spirit. That doesn't mean she's passed on, necessarily. According to her, everyone has a spirit."  
"Not according to me, brah! You know bettah! Betty's mana is very strong. She NOT dead. I see huh! I only meet huh two time, though. I tink I not duh only one who see huh, right? Daniel, you luv huh, you see huh, too, eh?"  
Daniel didn't know what to say, he felt all eyes on him. Was he going to lie and say he hadn't seen Betty's spirit or mana or whatever, when he actually had? Who cared what everyone thought of him? If this crazy woman, regardless if she was some kind of island voodoo witch doctor, for whatever reason, was seeing Betty, too, and they could all dance and chant and sing Kumbaya or something and get an address out of it, he didn't really give a shit right now.  
"Yeah, I've seen her. Several times. Her spirit or mana or whatever you call it." Hilda and Tyler looked somewhat shocked at Daniel's admission.  
Bobby and Amanda both looked at one another, however. Bobby raised his hand hesitantly, "Actually, me, too. I mentioned it to Daniel when we were on the Big Island. I've seen her a few times now. She's always just real encouraging, telling me we're doing great, and we're on the right path or whatever. She said something about kukui? I looked it up and it said it means light or knowledge, right?"  
"It means enlightened. Our people used the kukui nut for oil to make light."  
She turned to Amanda, "You see Betty, too?"  
Amanda nodded, "Once, yeah. I thought I was so tired; I must have just been dreaming or something. But, I talked to her and I yelled at her for leaving with those guys in the first place. She just smiled at me and said she was sorry she was putting us all through worrying about her.  
She told me to keep an eye on Daniel and make sure he got some sleep and that he didn't…freak out too much. The only problem is, I don't know how NOT to freak out myself! I just want Betty back! Did she tell you where she went with those guys?"  
Kailani nodded. "She not really know wea she is, but I recognize da place from the visions she give me. I take you dere now. We need to go right away, though. She not got a whole lotta time left. She getting weak. That why she stop coming to me. The men what take huh, dey left huh to go talk story to da one who hire em. Kavika still alive, but he in a dark place now. Try to get back to huh and hurt her, maybe. Duh oddah one, Marty? He just try to get back to his home. But he trust duh wrong person and he gone, too, now."  
"Well, let's go! You can ride with us and take us to where she is right now, then. Let's go get her. Come on!"  
Tyler looked at the woman skeptically, but was amazed to hear that three of them, including his own girlfriend claimed to have seen Betty's spirit. It was unbelievable to a simple guy from South Dakota, but then again, he had seen a lot of things in his short life that made him wonder, too.  
The fact that he had been able to climb out of his addiction to alcohol and that after all this time, Claire had managed to track him down and make him a part of the family. That he and Daniel had made peace with one another and started to have a relationship as brothers. Plus, to have someone as beautiful and sweet as Amanda in his life, he considered all those things a miracle, too.  
So, he nodded, grinning at Daniel's excitement, "Yeah, hell, yeah. Let's go find Betty!"  
So, the women all piled into the cab and the men jumped in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life as Kailani headed onto the H-2, and out past the signs for the North Shore. He thought he heard his phone ring, but lost his signal as they went through the tunnel.  
When they emerged, they were flabbergasted at the lovely bay area. "Wow, this is like jaw-dropping gorgeous! I sort of remember coming through here earlier in the week on our circle tour of the island, but after a while, everything is so pretty, it just got overwhelming, you know?" Hia commented to Kailani.  
She nodded, seeming to understand, "You live hea you whole life, you take it for granted, I guess, you know? I hea from some friends not from hea, though. Betty one tell me how lucky I am to live hea. She tell me she grow up in Queen?"  
"Queens." Hilda corrected. "Yeah, it's nothing like here, that's for sure! It's okay, I guess. I grew up there. But, I can't imagine growing up somewhere so beautiful. I haven't really gotten to enjoy it's beauty ever since Thursday, though, you know? Nothing has been registering much. All I can do is worry about where my sister could be.  
You can really see her? And she's telling you where she is? I don't understand why Betty's spirit is flying around, talking to everybody but me! I can't believe Bobby didn't tell me he saw her and spoke to her. And Amanda? I know Amanda's her friend, but I'm her sister! Why wouldn't she show herself to me, too?"  
"Maybe cuz you not believe. You too mad at huh, no? Anger block da visions."  
"You're right! I am. I'm furious that she got in that car with those idiots who are now dead! And now you're saying one of the other guys who still had her is dead, too. I mean, the person who hired them is clearly getting rid of the witnesses, one by one, right? So, is he going to have this Kavika guy kill her, then he'll probably kill him, too?" Hilda was angry, and trying not to cry.  
Amanda patted her arm. "Hilda, that doesn't make any sense. There has to be some reason the mainland guy, that George Markus had those guys take her. Besides, remember, she didn't really get in that car on her own. She was drugged with that zombie stuff."  
Kailani nodded in recognition, "Of course! That why she seem so outta tings she say to me! She drugged wif devil's breath."  
"I've heard it called that from some people I know in Columbia, too. It's some serious stuff. Yeah, I'm sure that's why Betty didn't really respond to you trying to warn her not to go off with some people she had just met. I'm not really mad AT her, I'm mad at the people who took her. I'm just so scared!"  
Kailani put her hand on Hilda's arm, as she took a turn widely, going over a dip in the road and sending the men flying around in the back. "She gonna be okay. We gonna find huh, I promise!"  
"Thank you! You almost make me believe you."  
"I know wea she is. She just no recognize it, I know da island like back a my hand. It just past beach called "Hukilau". I know thea because she show me hula girls close by, and thea a place called Polynesian Cultural Center jus past duh Hukilau Beach. Dere some houses in between, dat own by hoales, not hea mosa year. So, dey jus sit empty. Dat wea she is.  
You maybe wanna call police now, tell dem we on our way dea. Say, between Hukilau beach and PCC. He know area. We give em address as soon as I see da house, I gonna know it. It green house, wif black shutters and gotta little garage. That wea dey got her. She not get enuf air, though. They hide her in a big ole kine closet. She get real sick. They give huh too much drugs, need help NOW!"  
As the road (and Kailani's somewhat erratic and hurried driving) continued to send them all scrambling, the men had just begun to take it in stride, almost laughing at the roller coaster ride it had become.  
"Shit! Where the hell did your sister learn to drive, anyway?" Bobby complained. I'm a licensed professional driving instructor. Maybe I could teach her to at least attempt to keep it on the road and under eighty miles an hour!"  
Hekili shrugged, taking their wild sailing around in stride. "You should ride around in the back of a deuce and a half sometime with my staff seargent driving. I think, sorry I KNOW he's trying to get us to taste our nuts or something! Besides, if Kailani's driving this fast, it's because she's really worried about your friend's safety right now. She normally drives like a little old lady going to church on Sunday. I normally have to remind her that once she sees a school zone, it doesn't last forever! I'm telling you, she's not usually like this. I've never seen her warm up to a group of hoales she's never met before like she has you guys, either. I thought I was gonna faint when I saw her hug and kiss you, Daniel. She's usually NEVER this nice to people she doesn't know. Especially haoles."  
"What's she got against us?" Bobby asked.  
"Her husband was a hoale. And her mother-in-law was a total bitch! She hated Kailani with a passion. She treated her like she was trash. And she…well, she somehow managed to steal her daughter from her after her husband died, and took her to the mainland. That was almost eight months ago. I'm trying to help her save enough money to go find her little girl and bring her back here."  
"God, that's terrible. How old is Kailani's daughter?"  
"Three and a half."  
"How did she manage to take her? I mean, legally? She is the girl's mother. So, how would a grandmother get custody over a mother? Keilani's not into drugs or anything is she? Or was she?" Tyler asked.  
He shook his head, "NO, no way! She's totally against them. But, the woman's got money. LOTS of money. She hired somebody to slip Kailani that same drug that you said Betty was given, Scopolamine, or we call it zombie drug here. She went off with some guy who took dirty pictures of her, even though she didn't remember doing anything, the woman managed to get custody, claiming Kailani was an unfit mother.  
It was total crap! I know my sister. She loves that little girl more than her own life. She'd never leave her alone like that normally. She couldn't help getting drugged. But, the judge sided with her mother-in-law. She's probably somewhere on the west coast with my niece right now."  
"I'm sorry. I appreciate her helping us like this. I won't pretend to know how she's getting a 'fix' on Betty right now. The times I saw her, uh what did you guys call it, mana?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, she never knew where she was. At first, she kept saying she couldn't see out. But she could tell she was close to a beach, because she could hear the waves. And she said pineapples were close, a lot of pineapples."  
"Yeah, we're just about to pass the Dole Plantation out here."  
"Really? Wow! That's amazing, Daniel." Tyler was floored by this information they were somehow getting from Betty.  
Finally, after over an hour, Kailani pulled into the driveway across the street from a green house. She pulled up quietly, and ran out to the back of the truck. "She's across the street, inside the garage. It's locked, so use my crow bar in the back there and pry it open. She's in a what do you call those tings, a standing closet, you know?"  
"A wardrobe?" Daniel suggested.  
"Right. She been drugged, and had no water all day. The guy, Kavika is pissed at da guy what hire him to take huh. Marty was the one what fed her and give huh water before. Kavika mad, duh oddah guy try to cross him, so he gonna take it out on huh, if we no get huh outta there right now! Go!"  
The four men all jumped out of the truck and ran across the street wielding the crow bar as Kailani had suggested. They opened the door and there were cars and parts everywhere. Daniel started yelling, "Betty! Are you here?" They tried to see in the dark mess, but none of them saw a wardrobe anywhere at first.  
Daniel was digging frantically through the debris scattered everywhere, using his bare hands to try and clear away a path and found a flashlight to try and see better, since the overhead light didn't work. "Betty? Betty, baby, where are you? Please try and make some noise, so we can find you, okay?"  
They all stopped clearing things away for a moment, and heard a faint thumping. Daniel's eyes widened, "Please tell me the rest of you actually heard that, too?"  
They all nodded, and Hekili pointed to a corner, covered in old copies of Rolling Stone Magazines, "I think it came from under all those magazines."  
They started throwing the magazines to the floor and lying down, was an old, locked wooden wardrobe. Daniel's eyes, along with everyone's were tearing up.  
"What the hell you guys doin hea, eh? You tryin to horn in on my money, now?"  
Bobby and Hekili looked at the garage door in time to see the man, Kavika land on the ground in a heap. Hilda, Amanda, and Kailani had all three hit him on the back of the head with 'tire irons'. Tyler stood, with his gun drawn, ready to fire on the man, had the three ladies not dropped him first. Hekili laughed, "Sistah, how many a them tire irons you got?"  
She shrugged, throwing hers to the ground, next to the unconscious man. "Nevah know when I'm gonna need change all four a them tires."  
"At the same time?" her brother shook his head.  
Daniel had barely even noticed what was going on around him, he was totally focused on getting the padlock off the wardrobe door. He called back to the ladies, "Does he have a key on him for this padlock? Otherwise, we might need you to come shoot it off, Tyler. But, I don't want you to shoot Betty!"  
"That wouldn't be my first choice, either. I'm a good shot, but…let's see if he's got the key or not, first, just in case."  
"Let me, I know how to look for stuff on a passed out guy pretty well." Amanda said as she quickly rifled through his pockets and found the key, then threw it to Daniel. "Daniel, here!"  
He opened the door and there, at the bottom of the wardrobe, in the fetal position was his beautiful little Betty. She was barely awake and looked extremely pale. But she was definitely aware of one thing. "Daniel! You found me!" She managed a small smile.  
He picked her up and held her to him, whispering, "Of course, I did, sweetie. Did you have any doubts I would?"  
She barely shook her head, "No. I knew you'd come. Thank you."  
He kissed her forehead softly as he carried her out to the flashing lights of the police cars that had come racing up the drive. Captain Sukki looked shocked to see Daniel, "You guys beat us here, huh? So you're the anonymous tip we got to come here and look for Betty?" Daniel shook his head, "No, we called you on our way here just now, but…we didn't know about this place till a little over an hour ago."  
The man shook his head, "That's exactly when we got the call, too. Come on, I'll get you to the hospital with her. Give her some water, she looks dehydrated."  
Betty had passed out, and Daniel had no idea how badly injured she was from the drugs and neglect she had suffered over the past several days. He didn't want to even imagine what she had been through. He sat in the back seat of the police car, holding her and stroking her cheek, willing her to open her eyes once more. "Betty… please wake up again, sweetie. I love you."  
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Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Saying Thank You is Hardest  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 18: Saying Thank You is the Hardest Part  
Disclaimer I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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Captain Sukki continued glancing back at Daniel, concern apparent on his face. He tried to sound re-assuring. He didn't dare tell Daniel what he had witnessed in other cases where someone had been held captive for several days, even those just suffering from severe dehydration, let alone a person who was being drugged.  
It was anyone's guess how much the girl had been mistreated during her captivity, so he honestly couldn't offer any real hopes at this point. All he could do is silently pray on behalf of her and her family and this poor man, who so obviously loved her.  
Daniel kept trying to wake her, as did Hilda, sitting next to them both, in the back seat of the captain's car.  
Hilda leaned over to touch Betty's cheek, trying to wake her sister. She kept calling out suggestions to Daniel, "Try taking her shoe off and tickling her foot. They're super sensitive. Oh, I forgot, you already know all about that, don't you?"  
He furrowed his brows, realizing there must have been a fantasy Betty had written about involving her ticklish feet that he hadn't read yet. He decided to go on the offense, "Did you read everything Betty wrote about us, Hilda? What the hell? That was way beyond invasion of your sister's and my privacy, and you know it!"  
"Whatever, Daniel. Just try it. Who knows, it might help wake her up. I used to do it to her all the time just to mess with her, and it always worked."  
He rolled his eyes, blowing out a breath and thinking this was ridiculous, but he was willing to try anything. Once he took off one of her sandals and barely touched the bottom of her feet, he noticed her foot curl up slightly. He and Hilda exchanged hopeful glances, and she elbowed him, "See! I told you. I know my sister. Obviously not like you do, but…"  
"Hilda, stop. Let's just focus on Betty."  
Try it again!" she urged.  
He smiled and tickled her foot again, leaning down to whisper, "Wakey, wakey, Betty. Time to get up. Let's see those pretty brown eyes, okay? Come on, you need some…"  
"Water!" she whispered, hoarsely.  
"Betty! Sure, sure, hang on." He grabbed a bottle of water from the sergeant in the front seat. "Here's some, Betty." He carefully lifted her head up to help her sip. She drank eagerly and smiled, "Hi, Daniel." He stroked his hand on her cheek and smiled back at her, "Hi there, Betty. I've never been happier to see you. You have no idea. How do you feel?"  
"Dizzy, and really, really thirsty, and hungry!"  
They all laughed. Hilda and Daniel both had a look of complete relief on their faces. Captain Sukki smiled into the rear view mirror, thinking how nice it was when he actually got a case like this, where the family just wouldn't give up and there was a happy ending. There were far too many cases, cases like his friend, the Pastor's sister that didn't end so well.  
Daniel squeezed Betty's hand, his eyes starting to glisten, "God, Betty, we were scared to death we'd never see you again."  
"Me, too. Thanks for finding me."  
Hilda was crying, but trying to hide it. Betty looked at her sister, and teased, "Hilda, YOU'RE crying? But you hardly ever cry!" She could remember four times Hilda had cried, when she first found out she was pregnant, when their mother died, when Santos died, and of course, when papi had his heart attack.  
But, now, she was wiping her eyes, putting on her 'tough Queens chick' act. "Whatever! You scared the HELL out of us, Betty! Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?"  
Betty smiled and grabbed Hilda's hand, "I love you too, Hilda."  
Hilda cleared her throat, "You know, if it wasn't for Daniel here, and that kinda crazy, but nice lady, Kailani who said she saw your spirit or whatever she called it, we would have never found you, mama! You're damn lucky to be alive!"  
"Kailani?"  
Daniel asked gently, "Yeah. She helped us get to you. Do you remember talking to her, Betty? She's one of the people you interviewed for your story."  
Betty looked down, biting her lip, "You mean, the story about the cruise wear fashions?"  
Hilda rolled her eyes, "Nice try, mami! No, he means your other story. The one that almost got you killed. You must have asked the wrong questions about drugs or something and really pissed off that man from the mainland, that George Markus guy."  
Betty's eyes grew fearful. "I heard Kavika and Marty say that name. I still don't know why they took me. Marty started to tell me who arranged it and why, but Kavika stopped him and told him they would have to kill me for sure if he did.  
Marty was nice to me. He snuck me food and water. I was in the house most of the time. Kavika is the one who threw me in that terrible wardrobe today. I could barely breathe in there. It was horrible.  
Marty only pretended to drug me when Kavika tried to tell him to knock me out or something. But Kavika made me inhale those things a few times and they made me sick. I would wake up later and not remember where I was or what had happened. I had all these weird dreams or hallucinations.  
Something happened today, though. They found out the other two guys, the ones who got out of the car that night, I guess, got killed. Kavika and Marty were scared. They were afraid Markus was going to have them killed, too, I think. I heard them arguing. Marty just wanted to walk away and let me go.  
He was only talked into it in the first place by Kavika's friend, as a quick way to make money to get back to his family in Africa. They lied to him. He didn't know they were going to be kidnapping anyone. He thought he was delivering something shady, like drugs. I know he regretted getting involved and felt really sorry for me."  
Daniel smiled, stroking her hair. Leave it to Betty to bond with one of her kidnappers. That's how she survived getting almost burned alive when Renee lost her mind, though. It was one of Betty's gifts, to relate to people from all different walks of life-to find their humanity, the good in them. Hell, she had done it with him, with his mother, with Marc and Amanda, with just about everyone she knew at Mode, it seemed.  
Betty looked at Daniel, trying to sit up, "Daniel, let me sit up."  
"Betty, will you relax? We're almost at the hospital, right, Captain?"  
"Yes. We'll be there in a few minutes. You should keep drinking water."  
"Okay. I am really thirsty. Kavika threw me in that thing this morning and after I heard him arguing with Marty, I kept thinking once he left Marty would be coming back to let me out. But I was starting to get really tired and…it was dark in there and scary."  
Hilda and Daniel exchanged glances with the Captain. Daniel gently told her, "Sweetie, uh, Marty's gone. We don't know if he and Kavika fought and it was more or less an accident, or…if Marty was targeted by Markus, like his other two 'employees'. But, the police found him not too far away, on the beach by the house where they had you. Actually, some people staying at Turtle Bay were driving up to Hukilau Beach and they are the ones who discovered his…body."  
Betty sat up slightly and Daniel cradled her as she hugged him and cried. "He was so good to me. He was really a good guy, who just made some wrong choices. He's the only reason I'm alive. He protected me from the others right from the start and from Kavika once they brought me here. I'll always be grateful to him.  
He…he didn't deserve to die like that. I should find his family and tell them he died a hero, trying to keep me safe. I think Kavika might have killed him when they were arguing and taken his body to that beach. From what I heard, that's sort of what it sounded like."  
"Let's just worry about getting you better, first, mami."  
Captain Sukki pulled the car into the emergency room entrance. He turned to Hilda, "We're here. I let your son and friend know what was going on and they have landed. They are on their way here to meet us. I had some of my men pick them up directly from the airport. Your son was very happy to hear his aunt was safe."  
Hilda smiled, "I guess so. Justin thinks the sun rises and sets in his Aunt Betty. She is his link to the world of fashion that he loves so much. You really should have sent Justin to do a story on a fashion show, instead of Betty, Daniel. He would have just reported on the clothes, and not butted his nosey nose into stuff that wasn't his business!"  
Betty rolled her eyes, "I got it, Hilda. I'm sorry! So, Justin's here, and who else?"  
Just then, the truck pulled in behind them, filled with everyone. The men jumped out of the back and came rushing over to check on Betty. Bobby grinned, "So, is the chipmunk up and chattering away, as usual? Hey, Betty!"  
"Bobby! It's so good to see you! And Tyler, hi! You came, too?"  
Then, Betty saw Amanda, who was with Tyler, and she looked fearfully into the police car, as if she was afraid to see how Betty had fared after her ordeal. When she saw Betty was awake, she hugged her, "Betty! You're alive! OMG, B, I was so scared. I never thought I was going to see you again. God, don't ever do that, okay? Who would Marc and I torture if anything happened to you?"  
Hilda nodded, "See how many people love you, Betty? Marc's here, too. He came with Justin."  
"Let's get her inside and let the doctors take a look at her." Daniel got out and reached back in, insisting on carrying her in to the emergency room.  
As the doctors were checking her over, and giving her tests to see how much of the drugs she had in her system, Daniel and Bobby both paced. Tyler stood, watching them almost run into each other, and tried to distract Amanda from freaking out.  
After hours that seemed like days, the doctors reported the good news, that Betty had very little of the scopolamine in her system, and was only mildly dehydrated from her ordeal. They were all thankful that her one captor had been so regretful and gentle, so that for the most part, other than being held against her will, she, at least, hadn't been physically mistreated up until this last day and night.  
Captain Sukki and his men had left to question Kavika at the police station and see what kind of leads they could get on finding the elusive George Markus, who had supposedly set Betty's kidnapping in motion, and killed or hired someone else to kill at least two of his own men, and find out his motives.  
Betty asked to see Kailani and her brother. She thanked them profusely for leading her friends and family to find her. "I don't pretend to understand how you knew where to tell everyone to find me, but thank you so much! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I owe you everything."  
Kailani smiled, "You are the one who keep pesterin me, sistah Betty! Your mana is SO strong. You didn't only wanna come to me, you came to your brother-in-law and your friend, and to your boyfriend, Daniel.  
You owe a lot ta him, too, sistah, girl. I wouldn't a been able to figgah out everyting, until HE go to duh people in Makaha, and tell them all how he and your family miss you and how he knew you still alive. I have friends dere who tell me he brake dere heart, talkin story about how he would pay any ransom to get you back and that he no gonna leave duh island without you."  
Betty looked at the woman with amazement, "Wait, what did you say? That doesn't make any sense. First, I, my mana, that means spirit here, right? So, you're saying my spirit appeared to you and Bobby, and Amanda, and, and DANIEL? And that he called ME his GIRLFRIEND? Daniel? Daniel Meade? You're kidding, right?"  
Kailani and her brother exchanged glances. "No, my sister's right. He told all of us he was your boyfriend. You mean he isn't?"  
Betty shook her head, "No! He's my boss. We're just friends. I don't understand why he would say that."  
Kailani smiled and put her hand on top of Betty's. "Friends, eh? You sure about dat one, sistah?"  
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Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Friends to Lovers  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 19: Ka Hoa to Ku`u ipo(Friends to lovers)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
The police wanted to talk to Betty in the morning, but Captain Sukki had given orders for nobody outside her circle of friends and family to disturb her until she had gotten a chance to rest.  
Hilda had told Marc and Justin just to go to their hotel for tonight, because Betty needed to rest and recover and they would be able to see her tomorrow. Both had just been thrilled to hear she had been found.  
Betty seemed fine, overall, considering her ordeal, certainly in a lot better condition than they feared she might be when they discovered she had been locked in a wardrobe.  
Thank God, it hadn't been for the whole time, as Kavika seemed to have preferred, or she certainly wouldn't have survived. They all said a silent thank you that Marty had been there to protect her and possibly had even been killed for his loyalty to her.  
But Hilda knew this experience was going to change Betty immensely, as it had all of them, in various ways. At first, she had been extremely upset with Bobby for not telling her about his visions, but he convinced her that the reason he didn't was he was afraid it meant Betty might be dead, and he didn't want to give Hilda the impression he had given up hope in any way.  
After a few hours had passed, and the doctors had finished all their tests and exams for the night, it seemed, Daniel peaked his head in, "Hey, there. Can you squeeze me in to your busy schedule, Miss?"  
"Daniel! Sure, come in, please. Sit down."  
He sat down in a small recliner next to the bed. "Can I get you anything, Betty? Tea, coffee, contraband of any kind? I could see if they have ice cream down in their cafeteria. Some of the plate lunches had interesting fare. Personally, I think I'll pass on the Kailua pork from here. But they've got…"  
She put up her hand and smiled gently, "I'm fine, thanks, Daniel. I had something that almost resembled food a little while ago, and I think I'll wait till they spring me from here to get a little higher quality stuff tomorrow."  
"The doctors are going to release you that soon?"  
She nodded, grinning, "Yeah. They wanted to keep me longer, I think, but I told them I wasn't going anywhere for a while, so I could check in as an outpatient if they let me out of here as soon as possible! I said I needed to get out of being held captive and I think they took mercy on me. I'm just so grateful that Kavika wasn't the only one there, so I didn't get shoved in that wardrobe the whole time."  
"Me, too." Daniel said quietly. He had grabbed her hand, intertwining it with hers.  
Betty bit her lip, and took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to broach the subject of the hallucinations she had been told about and perhaps more confusing, why Daniel had been seemingly telling everyone in Hawaii that she was his girlfriend. Including their friends and family. Hilda and Bobby, Tyler and Amanda had all confirmed that Daniel had finally 'admitted' to them that they had been secretly seeing each other for years.  
"Uh, listen, Daniel, I was just kind of wondering why you…told people we were going out. I don't really understand."  
He pulled his hand away from hers and folded both his own hands together, looking down at them. He handed her his phone, and showed her quietly the file he had saved onto it from the flash drive Hilda had given him. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what it was and she turned crimson, "You…read this?"  
He nodded.  
"ALL of it?"  
He shook his head, "Uh, no. I've been a little busy."  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, not sure what she should say to him. She couldn't imagine feeling more mortified. She couldn't blame him, of course. They were looking for clues as to where she could be. Of course he would look on her computer. And Daniel knew her password, just like she knew his. Shit!  
She contemplated for a second if she just put the sheet over her head if he would eventually go away and leave her to die of embarrassment in peace. If she had been standing naked in front of him right now, she would have felt less exposed.  
She cleared her throat and took a huge gulp of water, trying to think of something to say.  
"Daniel, I…okay, let me understand this. You read that. PLEASE tell me no one else saw it! I mean, you didn't invite Bobby and Tyler over to laugh at it or something."  
"Betty, don't be ridiculous! Of course not. But… unfortunately, Hilda found it. She didn't tell anyone else, though. She was really pissed at me."  
"At YOU? Why?"  
He glanced sideways at her, "I…sort of let her believe those things really happened."  
"WHAT? Why on earth would you…Oh. Daniel. That was really…kind of sweet. And sort of chivalrous, in a weird way, I guess. Thank you. I don't know what you must think of me. I'm really embarrassed and ashamed. God only knows what you must think of me now."  
He smirked, looking at her and grabbed her hand again, "Honestly? Uh, first of all, I was really flattered. Second, I think you're a VERY hot writer! And third, well, I was just sort of wondering why you never said anything all this time if you…felt that way."  
She glanced up at him, shyly, choosing not to really answer him, "Thank you…that's really nice of you. So, THAT'S why you told everyone we were girlfriend and boyfriend, to cover that up to Hilda?"  
He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand across his forehead, feeling like he was sweating. "Yeah, well, partially that, and I felt like we would get more sympathy and cooperation from people in trying to find you if we had your sister and worried boyfriend looking for you instead of best friend/former boss. It had more impact, you know? Plus, I…liked reading some of those, well, all the ones I had time to read, actually. They sort of made me feel closer to you and I could at least pretend I really was your boyfriend.  
I was so worried I was never going to see you again and it made me realize how crazy that would make me. I really felt like I would go insane if I didn't find you, Betty. And those hallucinations or whatever? God, they felt so real! I swear, it felt like you were really there, talking to me, and uh, sort of flirting with me."  
"I flirted with you in your hallucination of me?" She looked at him incredulously.  
He nodded, grinning, "Well, it kind of went beyond flirting; actually, we sort of…acted out your writing a little. But, mostly, you were trying to give me clues as to where you were being held and things that would help me find you. Like you said, you saw lots of pineapples, and you were on the North Shore, past The Dole Pineapple Factory, and you were in a bikini, with a little wrap skirt, and you danced the hula for me. Well, the house you were at was right down the street from that Polynesian Culture place where they of course, have lots of hula girls. You also told me about Kavika being Tongan."  
She gave him a disapproving look, leaning closer, "Sorry, what do you mean, you 'sort of' acted out my writing a little? You mean you…did stuff in your head with me?"  
He looked at her, "Uh, Betty, I don't think you're entitled to give me the judgy butterfly look, my dear, when YOU are the one who wrote what I was fantasizing about in the first place."  
She looked down, biting her lip again, and shyly nodded, "No, I guess not. You're right. Sorry. I never meant ANYBODY to see that. I can't imagine what Hilda must think, now. Although, she had no right to read it. It's just like when she read my diary before. She's such a SNOOP!"  
He asked quietly, "I'm sorry. Did I do the wrong thing, telling her it really happened? I thought I was saving you a little by letting her think that. I didn't know what the right thing was to do. She found it and assumed I had… you know, corrupted you or whatever and I figured, so what, if she thought I had acted that way. I mean, we all know I already have that reputation, so…maybe it was better she think that of me.  
I don't know. I mean, I can tell her it was a lie. Whatever you want; just let me know. But, I really didn't know what you would want me to say. I'm only sorry I didn't do what she did and put it on a flash drive and delete the file on your laptop in the first place, so she wouldn't have ever seen it. I think I would have really liked it to be just our sexy little secret, Betty."  
She smiled shyly, "I don't know what to say, Daniel. You're being really sweet about this whole thing, considering I kind of invaded your privacy, writing those things, and then my sister yells at you, accusing you of doing them to me and you just went along with it, taking the blame for things you didn't do? That was…really so fantastic of you. I can't believe you did all that for me. Not to mention, coming here, and doing everything you did to find me. All of it. You're such a…good friend."  
He kissed her hand, holding it to his lips, "Of course, I did that for you, Betty. I'd do anything for you. I… think maybe we might be ready to take things a little beyond 'friend', after everything we've both been through, though, don't you? I mean, I kind of liked playing the role of your boyfriend. I don't know that I'm ready to be demoted back to 'friend' status."  
"Demoted?"  
He shrugged. "Yeah. You know what I mean. Besides, I don't know about you, but…" he scooted closer to her and moved his mouth next to her face, whispering, "didn't writing all that stuff about us make you…hot, Betty? I know it sure did me just reading it!"  
She drew in a breath, with him so close now, she could smell the mint and coffee on his breath. She looked at him, unsure what to do or say, when he leaned forward and barely brushed his lips against hers, then pulled away, smiling. "So, if you're feeling up to it tomorrow, when you get out of here, Miss Suarez, can I uh…take you out?"  
She blushed, but nodded, "Okay, Daniel."  
He kissed her hand again and got up to leave. "Well, I guess I should let you get some rest, girlfriend. Goodnight."  
She smiled, "Goodnight, Daniel."  
He started to leave, but she called him back, "Daniel?"  
He crossed back closer to her, "Yeah?"  
She reached up for him to give him a big hug, and whispered, "Thanks again for rescuing me! You're amazing!"  
He smiled, and whispered back, "So are you, Betty."  
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Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Tourists on the Run  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 20  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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Hilda, Bobby, and Justin came to pick Betty up from the hospital. The minute Justin saw his aunt, he ran to her and hugged her, "Oh, my God, AB, I was SO worried about you. And so was Marc! You should have seen him, pacing back and forth on the plane! He was really upset. But, he told me not to tell you. He said none of it meant he liked you."  
"Of course not." Betty smiled, at their little joke over the years, knowing Amanda always said the same thing. But, of course it all DID mean they had grown extremely fond of one another. Speaking of which, she wondered if Daniel had gotten any sleep after returning to his hotel late last night, when visiting hours were over.  
"Um, did you see Daniel last night or this morning at the hotel? I know you said I could just see Marc with everyone else when I got there, but I was worried how Daniel was doing when he got back there, since he didn't leave here until late last night."  
They all exchanged glances, smiling at one another, "Uh, AB, he never left. We saw him sleeping out in the hallway, right outside your door. He texted Mom late last night and said he didn't want to take a chance on that Markus guy hiring someone to come here and try and take you back, so he would have to get you over his dead body. Or, I guess, in this case, sleeping one. Poor guy! He must have finally passed out early this morning, cause he texted her well after midnight."  
Betty didn't know what to say, or think. Daniel had been here for her in every way possible, it seemed. He had shown up, the minute Hilda told him she had disappeared, and put together a search party for her, then organized an investigation that yielded better end results than the police, probably mainly due to his heartfelt appeals to the locals, including Kailani, claiming to them all that she was his girlfriend. Not to mention, he had taken the 'wrap' so to speak for her 'dirty little secret', and admitted to a 'crime' he didn't commit. He had let Hilda believe he had come onto her numerous times in his office, his loft, and various other places where she had written about having had quite adventurous sex with him.  
Why had he done that? She assumed he had decided that it would make her seem less pathetic and depraved if he had initiated things, and that she had simply gone along with them than for her to have written those same things about a man who in fact, had no idea how much she thought about him 'in that way'.  
Betty chatted happily with her family. She was extremely anxious to get released from the hospital. Captain Sukki had already called earlier in the morning, asking if she was recovered enough to give her statement to him at the hotel. It seemed, he, too, was concerned that Markus may have the idea that he should 'finish the job' and he was very worried about her safety. Daniel need not have worried about falling asleep on the job, because there was also a uniformed officer, stationed at the nurse's station, watching Betty's door.  
She assumed Daniel knew that, though, and he had probably recognized the officer, and talked to him, or else he would have never allowed himself to fall asleep. She had heard from the others how Daniel had continually pushed himself to the point of exhaustion while they had been trying to find her.  
After she was released, Betty started out with her family and smiled, as she saw Daniel, trying to sneak out before she could give him a hard time for not going back to the hotel to get some rest when he told her he was going to. Later, back at the hotel suite Daniel had moved her things to; Betty tried to piece together what had happened to her to tell the police, while she re-united with Marc, and greeted Amanda and Tyler again briefly.  
Everyone listened with rapt interest. The only problem was, Betty had no memory of much of her time in captivity. It seemed one of the symptoms of this particular drug was not to have any long-term memory of the time in question. One of the reasons it made such an effective drug for rape, or robbery, or as in her case, kidnapping. There had been many instances where the victim himself had helped the robbers take his own property, or emptied out his own ATM, seemingly happy to hand over everything, then had no memory the next day of what he had done.  
One man reportedly helped robbers carry everything of value out of his apartment, according to a doorman, who on questioning of the victim later asked him, "Why did you let those guys take all my stuff?", the doorman replied, "You were with them, telling me it was fine, and you seemed perfectly okay!"  
Finally, after several hours, her friends and family left her to shower and change. Betty heard a knock on her door. She smiled, seeing Daniel, standing outside, wearing casual khakis and a 'Hawaiian-style' shirt, with sandals. She opened the door and giggled, "If Wilhelmina could only see you now, brah!"  
He shrugged, handing her an orchid as he walked past her, "Hey, didn't you tell me she was topless in the Bahamas? I can chill out or hang loose, or whatever. When in Hawaii, baby. So, did you get some rest? I saw everybody was all here before, along with the cops, questioning you, so I tried to give you some space."  
She rolled her eyes, "Daniel, I know you stayed outside my room last night. Justin told me they had to practically step over you, when you finally dozed off. Plus, I saw you leave the hospital myself this morning. Did you insist Captain Sukki send over an armed guard or was that his idea? He wasn't very forthcoming."  
He ignored her question, stepping out to her balcony, and smiled, "Hey, no fair, you've got a better view of Diamond Head than I do."  
She grinned, looking at the flower he had given her and put it on a table, "Well, you did pay for this room, so I suppose I should let you come and enjoy the view a little. You're welcome to…stay in here and look out the window, any time, Daniel."  
He bit his lip and looked down, shoving his hands in his pockets for a second. Then, he walked over to stand behind her and said quietly, "Was that…an invitation, Betty? I'm shocked; we haven't even officially had our first date, yet. And you're already inviting me to stay in your room?"  
She blushed slightly at first, then cleared her throat, and narrowed her eyes, "Well, as far as everyone else is concerned, we've been having a secret affair all these years, so…I guess we should be seen sneaking back and forth to one another's rooms. To keep up appearances."  
He laughed, and shrugged slightly, then traced circles on her bare shoulder, "Yeah, hey, it's not like we haven't always hung out at all times of the day and night together, anyway, so what's the difference, huh?  
Except…now we would actually be doing some of the stuff we always got accused of anyway. Hey, you know what they say, if you pay the time, you might as well do the crime, right?"  
She blushed and ignored his comment, grabbing her bag, "So, Duke's for lunch? I'm buying; I insist. It's the least I can do after all you've done for me. It's just downstairs, so my little entourage of the two policemen won't even have to get in their car to follow us."  
He whispered, "Just think, it'll be just like our first all night date, running away from the paparazzi. You thought that was fun."  
She smiled, "It was."  
He nodded, "Yeah. It really was. Have you ever gone back to our bridge?"  
"Yes. Several times."  
"Why didn't you call me?"  
She shrugged, "First, you were with Sofia, then a bunch of models, then Renee, then a bunch of models, then you were married to Molly, then you went crazy, then it was Amanda, for a while…I couldn't keep up, Daniel."  
"Well, it wasn't like you were by yourself all that time, Betty. You had your own parade of guys, too."  
"I know. I guess I should have waited for your social calendar to clear while I collected cats or something!"  
He laughed, "No, of course not. But, we were alone together plenty of times. You could have said something. What about when I asked you about having a crush on me after that nightmare with Renee, Betty? That would have been a really good time to say, hey, Daniel, I actually do think about you a lot and…maybe we should"  
"Should what? I saw the way you were looking at me then, when you thought maybe I had a crush on you, Daniel. It wasn't like it would have been welcomed. You looked…panicked or something. Like you always did when anyone ever teased us about spending so much time together or implied anything was going on between us. I know that look. You didn't want your ugly secretary."  
He grinned, looking down at her, as he held her by her arms, "You were never my ugly secretary, Betty. You were my cute assistant. And I might have seemed surprised or worried, but it was just because I didn't know how to handle it, as far as…well, a lot of reasons, really.  
Mainly, I don't think I realized how much I took you for granted, for one thing. I kind of feel like Henry Higgins. I grew accustomed to your face. To…well, everything about you. Then, when I thought I had lost you, I went nuts. I couldn't stop worrying about you, thinking about you. How much I not only depended on you, but how I missed seeing you, talking to you, spending time with you. I mean…the hallucinations were kind of my way of survival.  
I think I would have needed a padded room if not for those. Well, them and…those stories you wrote, Betty. They were…extremely sexy. I don't think I ever realized just how sexy you are. I never really thought of you in that way before. But now…I can't stop thinking about you…like that."  
He was still holding her by her arms, and leaned down as if he wanted to kiss her, but she bit her lip and pushed him away slightly, "Yeah, well, I guess we all have our vices and outlets, uh…should we get going? If you're in here too long, we'll either have Five-oh knocking down the door to check on me or one of our little party assuming we're…doing stuff. Besides, I'm hungry. Duke's has a great Kahlua pork sandwich I got before. You can try the mahi mahi and we can share, like always. Come on!" She grabbed his hand, as he rolled his eyes and laughed at her.  
"Hang on, Betty. I'm hungry, too. They're not going to run out of food! Slow down."  
They saw the two policemen, eyeing them as they came out of Betty's room, but just nodded to them. The men ignored their smiles and kept a discrete distance away, but followed the couple.  
Betty laughed, pulling Daniel's hand, as she sprinted out of the elevator, and out to the sidewalk, "I'm really hungry, but let's see if we can at least give them their exercise for the day. Come on."  
Daniel grinned at her energy. He was a bit more lethargic, having spent an uncomfortable night in a hospital chair, outside her room, standing guard, until he nodded off. And the two-hour nap, Kona coffee and shower once he had returned to the hotel hadn't come close to making up for his lack of sleep.  
She pulled him behind her, and pushed him into several 'ABC' stores along the way, giggling, trying on sunglasses, and hats while they were inside. They made several silly purchases of different goofy disguises. Finally, Betty smiled as she saw the entrance to the International Market Place.  
She looked up at Daniel, "This place is awesome! You're going to love it, Daniel. They have everything here. They have those really cool oyster shells you open and get your own pearl. Did you know that Pearl Harbor got its name because it used to have so many oysters there it was unbelievable. Now, of course, it's all about the Arizona Memorial and stuff. It's a shame. The Punchbowl Stadium has this insane flea market on Saturdays, where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs really cheap. I got you this great shirt. Kind of like the one you're wearing now, actually."  
He rolled his eyes, looking down at his shirt. "God help me, if I'm picking out clothes you agree on!"  
"Hey!" She laughed.  
"Sorry." He looked at the lush tropical entrance to the marketplace, designed to lure in tourists, looking to buy that perfect 'authentic' souvenir before they had to return to the mainland. There were booths of all kinds set up, selling everything from beach towels, and cheap hula skirts, with coconut shell bras, to the pearl vendors Betty had mentioned, and CD's with Hawaiian music, plastic ukelele's (pronounced by the locals 'oo', not 'you').  
About five hundred yards from the entrance off the main street was a beautiful, huge Banyan tree, around which everything was centered. It was amazing. There was a 'tree house' restaurant upstairs, built around it, and a lovely koi pond and water fountain alongside it, with the obligatory sign that read, "International Marketplace" where droves of tourists, couples and families were taking turns lining up to take pictures.  
Although the location of the tree house restaurant was fantastic, simply because of its view of the ocean across the street, and well, because it was essentially a tree house, it seemed kitschy and out of time somehow. It was primarily a seafood restaurant and a very casual one, at that. Families and less affluent couples ordered deep fried coconut shrimp and French fries and looked out at the same fabulous ocean views that people in much more expensive restaurants dotted along Kalakaua Avenue, the main street along Honolulu.  
It somehow reminded Daniel of the homeless communities they had seen all along the 'western' or leeward side of Oahu, and how they, too, enjoyed the same fantastic views and beaches that the multi-million dollar residents paid for.  
It was just one of the ironic twists of life in Hawaii, he reasoned. Somewhat like the fact that the view from 'their bridge', was actually nicer than the one from more affluent Manhattan.  
"Would you like me to take your picture?" A man asked. A man that Daniel recognized to be Nathan, the cab driver Betty had interviewed.  
She laughed, and hugged him, "Nathan! Aloha! How are you?"  
He grinned and smiled at her, "You da one I should be askin, sistah girl! So glad to see you okay! I was worried. So was this guy hea, fo shuh. He so scared he no gonna find you, Betty. Glad you bettah. You know who take you? It not nobody from Tony's guys. I ask around. He not worried bout you. He tink he too big fo some little girl from dah mainland to cause him no trouble.  
I hea somebody else, somebody on dah mainland askin around, tryin to see you nevah come back dere. You be careful, Betty. You gonna take care your honey girl, now, Daniel? Make sure she safe?"  
Daniel put his arm around Betty and nodded, giving Nathan a big smile as he shook his hand, "She's not leaving my side, from now on, Nathan. 'No worries, man', I'm going to keep her safe. But, do you know how we can find out more about whoever it is that is trying to kill Betty? You say they've been trying to recruit locals to take her?"  
He nodded, looking around, "Yeah. You look out. I know Five-oh watchin you, but deh not dat good. I got to you, didn't I? And I'm jus a cab driver. I not tryin to hurt you. But if I got to you, so could a bad guy, you knowadimean, brah? You gotta have two eyes in da back a yo head, you guys, eh? I ask around a little, let you know what I find out about mainland guy. Aloha, sistah Betty, aloha, Daniel! Good to see you two togethah, how you oughtta be!" He grinned, giving them the shaka sign.


	5. Re-Posting (Ch 21-36)

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Daniel Meade-Bodyguard  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 21: Daniel Meade-Bodyguard  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
Right after Nathan's departure, they saw the two policemen, looking out of breath, and concerned. Daniel grabbed Betty's hand and walked over to them before they had a chance to 'back off'.  
"Listen, you guys need to do a lot better job at protecting her, okay? I'm sorry I let her talk me into trying to lose you like that, but we just talked to a local guy we both met here and he's okay, but he made a good point that if he could find us before you two, so could this Markus or whoever else he tries to hire.  
So, I promise you, we'll stay right in front of you, but you've got to promise me, you're going to do a better job keeping Betty safe, okay? I'm NOT going through losing her again and wondering if she's safe."  
One of the two men nodded and mumbled, "Of course, Mr. Meade. We didn't expect you to give us the slip like that, though. It works much better if we don't have to play hide and seek, you know. I would think you would WANT protection after what you've been through, Miss Suarez." The middle-aged police officer scolded Betty.  
Daniel gave her a look, that she knew meant he agreed with the man, "You would think. But, this is my fault, too. I aided and abetted her just now. But, that stops right now. No more games, we promise, right, Betty?" He gave her a stern look, squeezing her hand. She nodded, contritely, looking guilty.  
"Of course, Daniel. I'm sorry, officers. I shouldn't have done that. I guess I was having a delayed reaction to being held captive and just wanted complete freedom. But, until we find whoever had me kidnapped, I guess that's not going to really happen. I won't do that again, I promise."  
They walked back to The Duke's and Betty and Daniel sat one table away from the two officers, who Betty insisted on having sit down, while she bought them lunch.  
They enjoyed the amazing views as they sat outside on the deck and ate somewhat quietly. Betty tried to lighten the mood, joking around, but Daniel seemed serious and somewhat paranoid, although it was obvious his lack of rest the entire time since he had first learned of her disappearance was really catching up to him.  
"Hey, you two lovebirds, how's it going? Making up for lost time, huh?" Hilda and Bobby walked by their table, as they were about to leave. Hilda grinned, and Bobby slapped Daniel on the back, grinning ear-to-ear.  
He turned to Betty, motioning to Daniel, "You should have seen this guy; playing the tough man to those two creeps we followed to The Big Island, Betty! You would have been so proud of him, yelling at those two, and scaring the other three supposed 'guards' pretty bad, too! He sure found his cajones, when he was telling them they all had better help us find you!"  
Daniel looked down, seeming embarrassed at the accolades. Betty looked back and forth from Bobby to Daniel, "Really? You…yelled at a bunch of tough guys for me, Daniel? That's so sweet! Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek.  
Hilda hiccupped, seeming slightly inebriated, "Well, I would hope he would, after all Betty's done for him over the years. And I don't just mean getting his coffee and bagel, right?" She gave them both a knowing look.  
Betty gave her sister a somewhat evil glare, "Let's just say we both owe each other a lot and leave it at that, okay, Hilda?"  
Daniel ignored Hilda's jibes at their expense and looked at Bobby, "Listen, we just talked to that Nathan, the cab driver friend of Betty's and he said I was right in thinking Betty's still in danger from Markus. Clearly, Captain Sukki thinks so too, since he's got two men assigned to follow her. I think we need to put together our little squad again and check into this crap, Since Markus is from the mainland, how do we know whoever it is won't follow her back to New York?  
I think we need to stay here and keep him on a much smaller island than Manhattan, where he'll be easier to catch and might show his hand. We've got a lot of locals on our side, too. The Pastor and all his friends, and Nathan, and Kailani, and her brother, which means we've got possible military help if we need it, even. I say we stay here until we catch this guy!"  
Bobby high-fived Daniel, "I'm with you, Daniel! Nobody's messin with my little chipmunk on my watch!"  
Betty sighed, "Oh no! Not you, too, Bobby!"  
"Hey, you two! So, I DO finally win the pool on you two back at Mode. That's fantastic; it means I get an extra day's massage here at the spa! Mucho gracias, Daniel, for letting me be Hilda's wedding coordinator.  
I don't know why I've never been here before. This place is amazing! I've never seen this many military men in one small place before. Oh, and look, policemen, too! It's like The Village People, Aloha Style! The Hawaiian guys are like the Native American's and OMG, are they ever BUILT! You SO should have sent me to do the gay cruise thing at Disney in the first place."  
"It wasn't a gay cruise, Marc. Not all cruises are gay, you know." Daniel replied, wearily.  
"Whatever, Daniel! God, you look terrible, sailor! Has my little chimichanga been wearing you out, giving you thank you licks, like a little puppy dog? How cute! Or, actually, disgusting, but tolerance for all kinds of love, I suppose. Especially, if it gets me that pool!"  
Betty smiled, "Have you been having a few chocolate martinis, Marc?"  
He shrugged, "A few. I was at the bar, earlier. Justin and I were shopping in the hotel earlier, and I thought I'd see what everyone was up to today. Why do you look better than Daniel?"  
Betty put her arm around Daniel's waist, protectively, "Because he was awake most of last night, playing bodyguard outside my room at the hospital, even though I had a police guy there, already. Listen, guys, I'm going to go put Daniel here to bed. I think he needs some rest.  
We'll get together to investigate Markus tomorrow. Right now, I think Dann-o here needs his rest. And thanks, again, so much for everything you all did to help find me. And thanks for coming with Justin, Marc. We'll see you all tomorrow. Hang loose, everybody!" They all waved their hands at Betty, trying to do the shaka back at her.  
Daniel tried to protest, but was clearly too tired to put up much of a fight.  
Hilda elbowed Marc, "She's going to put him to bed, alright. I'll just bet he STILL doesn't get any sleep, though!"  
Marc made a face, "Please, Hilda. I haven't eaten yet! I was going to call Mandy and see if she and Tyler were ready to come up for air and have lunch and another tropical drink or three. I think I'm switching to rum. They have that here, right?"  
She nodded, "I think so. Fine, I'll call Justin and see if he wants to go shopping with his mom for her wedding. Ooh, Bobby, how about we get a couple's massage?"  
"Sounds good to me! Let me just see if I can let Tyler know what Daniel said about us all getting together to track down this Markus tomorrow."  
Once they got to Daniel's room, Betty started to leave, but he pulled her inside with him, "Just where do you think you're going, Miss? You heard me, I meant it. You and I are now Siamese twins, Betty. Wherever you go, I go and vica versa. Just come in here for a second while I grab my stuff, then I'll come back to your room with you, since you've got the suite."  
Her eyes grew large, "Daniel, I was only half-kidding about coming to look at the view anytime in my room. I wasn't…coming on to you or anything. We just had lunch together; sort of a short first date, and that was with a police escort and interrupted half-way through with half of our friends and family from New York! Now, you want to 'hang out' together constantly? You're not sleeping with me."  
"Yes, I am."  
"No, you're not!"  
"YES, I AM!" he stood toe-to-toe with her, both of their voices getting increasingly louder.  
"Look, Daniel, just because I wrote some sexy stories about us, doesn't give you the right to demand sex! I really appreciate all you did to come here and find me and, and…"  
He looked at her strangely, "I didn't say I wanted to have sex with you, Betty. I just said I was going to come stay with you in your room. From now on, I'm not letting you out of my sight. Consider me your bodyguard. You've got those two out there, and me, right next to you."  
"Oh." She said quietly, looking somewhat crestfallen.  
He grinned, "Sorry to disappoint you or bruise your ego, Miss Suarez. I didn't say I would MIND having sex. At least, after I get just a LITTLE bit of sleep, maybe. But, I only meant, I wanted to…"  
"Protect me. I get it, Daniel. That's really sweet of you. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions."  
He shrugged, "It seems to run in your family. I thought Hilda was going to cut me up and feed me to the sharks when she called me after reading your computer and started yelling at me while I was in the Big Island. I was way more scared of her than I was those criminals!"  
She laughed, "I'm sort of surprised she's being as supportive as she is. I don't know what you told her to placate her. I guess she's just so happy you found me or something. Although, we both know, what I do is really none of her business. That reminds me, I need to call my dad. I really want to hear his voice. Hilda told me nobody told him I was missing, right? That's a really good thing. Knowing him, he would have been on the next plane here, too. My family is so…"  
Daniel invaded her space and looked down at her, "Crazy about you, yes, I know. That seems to be…going around." He kissed the top of her head, and opened the door to his room. He led her in behind him, while he got his things. He grabbed her hand and held out her palm. She looked at him, puzzled, at first. Then, he placed the flash drive Hilda had given him inside her hand, and closed her fist around it tightly.  
She smiled, "Is this what I think it is?"  
He nodded, "Yeah. I figured you should have it for safekeeping."  
She blushed, "So, do you still have your copy on your phone?"  
He nodded, then shrugged, "I haven't gotten to read much more of it, yet. It did keep help me stay up last night, though. And I don't just mean awake." He smirked.  
She rolled her eyes, "Daniel!"  
He grinned again, and closed the door behind him, grabbing her hand again, "Come on, let's go check out those great views of yours and you can 'put me to bed', Betty!"  
She shook her head, "You do know, I meant for you to just SLEEP, here in your room?"  
"Yeah, I know. So, you'll tuck me in to your bed, instead. Where you choose to sleep is totally up to you. You can sleep on the couch, on the chair, or the chaise, or on the floor, or…next to me. Wherever is most comfortable. As long as I'm in the same room, where I can keep an eye on you." He smiled, putting his arm around her as they walked to the elevator.  
Once they were inside, he held the door open for the two police officers, still following them at a very small distance. "Come on, guys. We can wait to get really friendly till we're in her room."  
She elbowed him, "Daniel! Stop it! You don't have to act like that with everyone. They don't know anything."  
He shrugged, leaning over to whisper, "All of Hawaii thinks I'm your boyfriend, Betty. We might as well keep up the charade with these guys, too. I went along with it, because well, after a while, like I said, I sort of wanted it to be true. I figured that was the only way I was going to get you back. And actually, the more I kept saying it, the more I sort of started believing it myself. Especially, between reading your stories and having my own sexy little hula girl version of you, driving me nuts, every day or night."  
He held her hand up to kiss it, and looked into her eyes, "You wanted to know why Hilda didn't flip out more than she did, thinking we really had done all those things? It was because I told her… I told everybody that…I loved you, Betty."  
She blinked, "You WHAT?"  
The shorter policeman said, quietly, "He said he loved you, Miss."  
She turned to the policeman, and said, rather loudly, "I heard him, thanks!"  
"Sorry, Miss." He turned back to the wall, going back to pretending they weren't hearing everything going on.  
After they arrived at Betty's suite, the two stood outside. Betty went in, and returned shortly, with two chairs, and pillows. They both smiled and sat down, "Mahalo, Miss."  
As soon as the door closed behind them, Betty watched Daniel, as he walked out to her lanai, looking out at the waves, rolling in, the beach, teeming with people, the city itself, and Diamond Head, in the distance.  
She continued to lean against her door, her arms behind her. Daniel stayed out, watching the beach for a few more minutes, then saw her still looking at him, and slowly walked over to her, putting one hand up on the door, by her head, and leaning towards her.  
She asked softly, "You…really said that, Daniel? Not just to Hilda, to cover up or whatever, but to everybody?"  
He nodded, brushing her hair aside, and continuing to lean down, closer to her, "Yeah, well… like I said, absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess. And I really missed you, Betty. What can I say? You're sort of hard to ignore. You always have been, crashing into my life the way you did. And you've recently become impossible to resist, too. At least, for me."  
"Seriously?" She gulped as he further closed the gap between them.  
"I couldn't be MORE serious, Betty. So…what do you say? Are you up for making BOTH of our fantasies come true? I mean, we are here, in paradise. Isn't this where dreams are supposed to become reality?"  
She nodded, and said quietly, licking her lips and barely breathing, "I guess so. Or, maybe that's just Disney."  
He shrugged, closing the gap between them completely, and whispered, "Close enough. It's just down the street. I'll start with this one. I love you, Betty." He held her face in one hand and kissed her. Betty slowly moved her hands out from behind her and slid them up around his back, and deepened their kiss.  
________________________________________  
Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Dreams and Reality  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 22  
As they parted, they both took a breath and Daniel held her face in his hand. "It's so much better, kissing you in reality. I was so worried I wasn't going to get to you in time. I felt like I was losing my mind, thinking I might never find you, Betty."  
She smiled shyly, her heart beating so fast, she could barely catch her breath, "I'm so glad you did. I was starting to get really scared, especially hearing Marty and Kavika arguing. I knew if anything happened to Marty, I was... dead." She started sobbing. Daniel pulled her towards him, and held her in his arms, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head.  
"Sweetie, it's okay. I know you're grateful he looked out for you. We all are. It was a miracle that Marty was there. I don't even want to think about what could have happened if he hadn't been. I think we all have already gone down that path too much already. Now, we've just got to try to find out who this Markus really is and what's his reason for wanting you out of the picture."  
She smiled, wiping away her tears, "Okay, Daniel. I'll try and look at my notes, and I promise, I'll stay right here, in my room, with you next to me, and the police outside. But first, you've got to promise me something."  
"Anything, Betty. Name it." He wiped her tear-streaked cheeks with his thumb and kissed her forehead.  
She led him to the bed. He smiled, and raised his eyebrows. "Now? Really? Well, okay, if you're sure you're up for it, Betty, I'm game..." He started taking off his shirt.  
She gave him a look, "Get real, Daniel. You may have thought we were doing stuff, but I'm sorry to remind you, that was all just in your own perverted little mind. No, I just meant, you need to get some sleep. I'll be happy to tuck you in, but that's it. I may be able to write about doing sexy stuff, but that certainly doesn't make me an expert on actually doing it!  
Besides, even if I were so inclined, which I'm not right now, you look like you're about ready to fall over. Go to bed, please. You're no good to me or anybody, passed out. Everyone's told me how you've barely slept a wink since you got here, and not at all on the plane. It's been almost a week. Well, I'm here and I'm okay. So, you're going to get some rest. Now! No arguments, mister."  
He smiled, "Fine. I'll sleep. But, can I ask you a question, please?"  
"Of course."  
"Where are you going to sleep, Miss Suarez, if I take your bed?"  
She looked around and shrugged, still pushing him to lay down, "I'll improvise. If I start to get sleepy, maybe I'll lay down on the couch over there. It looks comfy enough."  
He shrugged, running his index finger up and down her arm. "Okay. But, just in case you change your mind, I'll scoot over to one side. So, you're welcome to come and lay down with me. It is your bed, after all. Besides, I'm so worn out, I probably wouldn't even molest you...much." he grinned, leaning down to kiss her cheek, and finished taking off his shirt, and started taking off his pants.  
Betty looked at him like he had lost his mind and whispered, looking around, as if she was worried someone might see, blushing profusely, "Daniel! What the heck are you doing? Didn't you bring pajamas or sweatpants or something to sleep in? That you could go change into in the bathroom, maybe?"  
He shrugged, folding his pants neatly onto a chair, "It's Hawaii, Betty. It's hot. I know you've seen guys in way skimpier swimsuits since you came here. I'm sure you and Hilda and Amanda were all having a great time on your little girl's week, ogling all the buff surfer dudes and tourists in their speedos. I've at least got boxers. Feel free to wear whatever you're comfortable in while I'm here, too. Just act like you would if I wasn't here. I'll be like a fly on the wall. Invisible."  
"How about SILENT? Fine, whatever, run around in your underwear. See if I care. Just, please...go to sleep, okay? Goodnight, Daniel!" She pushed him towards the bed, and held out the covers for him. He grinned and got into bed. "Nitey nite, Betty."  
She threw the sheet and comforter over him. "Goodnight!" As she started to walk away, he teased, "What, no goodnight kiss?" he gave her his patented pathetic puppy dog eyes.  
She shook her head, "You already had one. Now go to sleep! God, you're like a two-year old or something. I feel likeI'm babysitting you, instead of the other way around, supposedly!"  
"I'll go to sleep, now. I promise." he grinned, turning against the wall.  
She shook her head, and went to the couch, grabbing her laptop, to search through her notes, trying to figure out what she may have uncovered inadvertently that may have made her a target for this Markus person, and to see if she could find some clues as to who they really were.  
As Betty continued to read through her notes for the next few hours, she found her own eyes starting to droop. She could hear the sound of the ocean, right outside her balcony. It somehow mixed with her remembering the sound of the waves, crashing close by when she had been in the house on the North Shore.  
She had only snippets of memories, of she and Marty talking, in between the times Kavika had insisted on actually drugging her himself. Luckily, she had learned to 'fake' being under the influence of it very quickly, so that he didn't end up giving her too much.  
After a few more hours had passed, she felt herself being lifted up. She moaned, groggily, "Mmm...Marty?"  
"No, it's Daniel. Now I'm putting YOU to bed, Missy. You need sleep, too."  
She had her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest as he carried her to the bed. Her eyes were closed and she mumbled, still half-asleep, "I told you, I'm not going to bed with you, Daniel. At least...not until I really know you better."  
"Let's not start that again. No more arguments. For now at least, we're both just going to SLEEP in the same bed. No hanky panky, I promise, Betty. Unless you change your mind. In that case, you have my permission to molest me, either in my sleep or feel free to wake me for said molestation, okay?"  
"Okay, Daniel. I'll molest you. Or you can kiss me again. You're a really good kisser." she whispered, clearly 'out of it'.  
He laughed quietly, placing her gently on the bed. "Sounds good. Either way. And thanks. I think you're a really good kisser, too. I'd put you into something more comfortable to sleep in, but...frankly, I don't really trust myself to undress you, so you're sleeping in your clothes tonight. Goodnight, sweetie."  
"Daniel?" she mumbled, reaching for him, but her eyes still closed.  
"I'm here." he hovered over her.  
"I knew you would come for me. I love you, too. I always have." she said, softly.  
His eyes widened, and he bit his lip. He wondered if she was still under the influence somewhat of the drug. He had read some of the side effects, even though she had fared pretty well, hallucinations and having a hard time distinguishing between reality and those hallucinations seemed to be common for victims. He could definitely relate. He whispered softly, "Aww...sweetie, I...love you, too. I...Sleep tight. Let's try to get some rest, okay?"  
"Mmhmm...okay." she seemed to easily continue to drift off as he covered her up and sat on the bed, next to her, gently touching her face. Her skin was so soft and smooth. He really studied her beautiful cheeks and lips. God, he had so many fantasies (even before reading hers, actually) that centered around those lips of hers. They were so full and sexy. He couldn't stop himself.  
He leaned down and kissed her gently, just once, quickly, then put his fingers on her lips. It felt so wonderful to have her really here, next to him. He determined he was never letting her out of his sight again. There was no way he was going to go through the past few days of hell again, that was for certain.  
Having her back, and safe was a miracle. He felt sorry for Marty, and knew he would be eternally grateful for the guy's humanity and compassion towards Betty when he himself couldn't get to her.  
He carefully slid back under the covers, and tried to go back to sleep. As much as part of him fought it, he was still so exhausted, he slipped back into unconsciousness more quickly than he thought he would.  
"Daniel. Please wake up. I need to...go. I can't get around you or over you to get out. You've got me trapped against the wall here."  
He sighed, lazily opening his eyes, and feeling rested for the first time since Hilda had called him what seemed like a lifetime ago. He grinned, seeing Betty trying to climb over him. He looked down, "Having fun? I'm not an obstacle course, you know. You should have just woken me up."  
"I tried! I've been trying." He pulled her over on top of him, and looked up at her, "Hi there. I think I like this arrangement."  
She struggled to get over him, and he finally helped her, laughing at her frustration.  
He got up and gestured with his hand for her to go ahead. "After you."  
She got up and ran quickly to the bathroom. After a few minutes, she came out, brushing her teeth, "So, you woke up in the middle of the night and put ME to bed? That was...uh, thoughtful, Daniel. I'm happy to see I still have MY clothes on, at least.  
So, after we get dressed and have some breakfast, I guess we'll meet with everybody about our next move. I think we need to go talk to the the rest of the people on Pastor Cardine's list. I see you guys didn't need to go to everyone, before Kailani called you to rescue me.  
They're all people who have some connection to one or more of the guys who kidnapped me. One of them might have heard something that will lead us to Markus and his motive for having me kidnapped."  
He nodded, sitting on the side of the bed as she finished brushing. She started out onto the lanai, nodding towards the bathroom. "You can use the shower first, Daniel. You're the guest."  
He grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom, "Okay, thanks. I'll be right out."  
"I'll be right here."  
He stopped and looked back at her, standing by the sliding door out to the lanai and walked over to her. She looked at him, questioningly. "Daniel? What's wrong?"  
He held her by her arms, looking down at her, then hugged her, "Nothing. I'm just really glad to have you back. I missed you, Betty. I'm afraid you're going to get sick of me. Because I'm never leaving your side again."  
She smiled, raising an eyebrow, "Ever?"  
He shook his head, "Nope. Not ever. Like I said, I'm going to be stuck to you like glue, from now on. You know that movie we watched with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear? From here on out, that's you and me. We're attached at the hip."  
She grinned, "Sounds kinky. But we might have trouble getting through doors and such, don't you think?"  
He smiled down at her, "I'm glad you think I'm kidding. But, I'm not. You're not even going to be able to go to the ladies room without me, standing guard. And I'm going to have Tyler, as my back up, too, and Bobby. You know Tyler has a gun? And Bobby, well, shit, Betty, he had some humongous Hawaiian guy on the Big Island by the throat! It was awesome! You should have seen him!" he sounded like a little boy.  
She laughed, "Yeah, he did that with some kid before, too that yelled at me when Bobby was teaching me how to drive. He had the kid pressed up against the window and made him apologize. It WAS pretty impressive.  
What I want to know is what they were talking about you, being all mister uh...bad ass, too. I think I would have liked to seen that." She smiled, putting her hands on his chest, and looking up at him, shyly.  
He shrugged, pretending to be embarrassed, "Aww, shucks, ma'am. Tweren't nothin!" he grinned, rolling his eyes.  
She laughed, "Was that supposed to be Tyler, or...who, exactly?"  
He shook his head, "I don't know. I'm just goofing around. I think I'm kind of giddy right now, Betty. I haven't been this happy in I don't know how long. I have you here, and you're safe. I actually got a full night's sleep. And bonus, it was next to you. My cup runneth over right now. Plus, well, you're pretty damn cute in the morning, all flushed and pink. I like your shorts and tee shirt."  
She blushed, as he put his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer for a kiss. She pushed away, shyly. "You'd better go get dressed, so I can, too. It's almost ten-thirty. Everyone will be looking for us."  
He rolled his eyes, "Not necessarily, Betty. They think we're, you know, together. They'll probably be assuming we're making up for lost time, you know?"  
"Oh, right. I forgot. Well, what should we do?"  
He laughed, "Seriously? You're asking me?"  
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Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Team Betty  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 23:  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
After they had both gotten changed, Betty saw Daniel, sitting out on the lanai, seemingly engrossed by the the ocean. She leaned down and said softly, "It's soothing, just listening to the surf and watching the waves go in and out, isn't it?" He jumped slightly, and dropped his phone when she startled him.  
She picked it up, rolling her eyes, and hitting his shoulder, "Really, Daniel? You're reading this again, now? Come on, it's embarrassing enough, knowing that you even know I wrote this, and that Hilda read it, too. Do you really have to read it right in front of me?"  
He shrugged, looking guilty, "Sorry, Betty. It's kind of addictive. I sort of wanted to read some of the uh...more recent stuff, too. See how things heated up between us." He winked at her.  
She blushed, "Dan-iel. Please."  
He sighed, "Betty, come on. We should...at least talk about it, don't you think? Look, I'm sorry you thought you couldn't tell me about this stuff, but...I gotta tell you, now that I know about it, I think it's totally hot.  
I think you're writing is insanely sexy. I felt like this stuff could have really happened. I was kind of wishing...it had, you know? Hell, this makes my sex life look tame."  
She rolled her eyes at him, "I doubt that, Daniel. Your sex life was mostly on Page Six or on Suzuki's Fashion Buzz updates."  
He pulled a chair next to his, and patted the seat for her to sit next to him. She sat down, slowly.  
He took her hand, "Betty, I'm sorry if this embarrasses you, but...I'm really glad I found out about it. I'm also happy to know you love me."  
She looked shocked and confused, "I never said that!"  
"You did, too. Last night. Oh, you don't remember saying it, do you? I kind of worried about that."  
She stood up and headed back inside, "I don't remember, because I didn't say it. I may have written inappropriate things, that were on my private computer. But they were just my own silly stories, fantasies. Yes, they were about you, but...they could have been about anybody. I just used you because you fit the profile. You were the type I needed. And I put myself as the lead female, because they say you should always identify with the protagonist in your stories.  
I'm willing to overlook that you invaded my privacy to see them, because I know you were trying to find me, and I am grateful, but...I never said THAT, Daniel. I'm sorry, but, I don't feel that way about you. I never said I did. You're mistaken. Or...confused."  
He nodded, smiling. "Okay, Betty. My mistake. I'm sure I heard you say that you loved me and you always had last night. But, if you say you don't feel that way, and you didn't really say it, even though I heard it, plain as day, I believe you.  
It's all good. I can wait until you admit it. Like I told you, I'm not going anywhere. You'll crack, eventually. Being around the guy you're in love with twenty-four seven is bound to make you slip up, sooner or later and admit how you really feel.  
Meanwhile, we should probably practice kissing and making out, and look like we've been having sex since everyone thinks we're finally out of hiding with our hot, secret love affair."  
She was getting extremely upset at his presumptuousness in saying what she had no memory of saying the night before. She gave him a dirty look. "You're SO arrogant, Daniel! Please, like I would ever say that to you! You're really full of yourself, aren't you? What makes you think you can talk to me like that? I'm not your little..."  
"My little what, Betty? Jeannie? Do you remember saying that to me? That was our fantasy, remember? I was your master, and you were wearing your blue bikini and little skirt, so I teased you and said you were my little Jeannie."  
He had stood up, and was invading her space, forcing her to back up against the sliding glass door.  
She looked confused, as if she almost remembered what he was talking about but shook her head, "No, I never said...I don't know what you're talking about, Daniel. I never said that, and I never wore any stupid bikini, okay? I'm sorry, but I don't remember it, because it never happened. Not in reality. I never said anything to you. And as sweet as it is of you to want to protect me, I think we should just tell people the truth, don't you?"  
He shrugged, "And what is that, exactly? That you're secretly in love with your boss and have been for years?"  
She gave him a dirty look. "NO! I'm sorry to burst your little bubble, but I'm NOT in love with you. I just used you in my stories, because you were an easy subject, that's all."  
He crowded her even more, and gave her a slightly impatient, annoyed look, "That is total bullshit, and you know it, Betty. Do you want me to say it first, or something? Is that the problem? Fine, I love you.  
I don't know when I knew it or how I knew it for sure, but after I got here, I started realizing how stupid I was to NOT have known it a long time ago. I'm completely in love with you, sweetie. There, does that make it easier for YOU to admit you feel the same way about me?"  
Her eyes were wide, "Daniel, you...you can't be serious!"  
He slowly pulled her closer to him, and took her head in his hands, leaning forward and down to her face. He rested his forehead against hers, "I told you, Betty. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Of course, I'm serious. I love you, and I know you love me."  
He proceeded to tease her lips with his, kissing her softly, then pulling away, but keeping his lips right next to hers, until she met his mouth with hers.  
He slid one arm around her waist, holding her close to his body, so that she could feel his warmth, and placing his other hand on the back of her head.  
Then, she felt his tongue, hot and teasing her mouth, plunging in and around, and driving her crazy. Just the feel of his body against hers and the way he was holding her, was enough to make her feel lightheaded. Did women actually swoon anymore, she thought to herself?  
Well, if they didn't, Daniel's kisses would be enough to make them start, she reasoned. She was actually trying NOT to give in to his cocky arrogance quite so easily, because it annoyed the hell out of her. But, oh my God, the man was literally taking her breath away. And she liked it. She loved it, in fact.  
The stories she had written all these years were nothing, she realized suddenly, compared to having the man himself, pressing up against her and wanting her, kissing her like she was the only woman on earth and he was the only man. He was the only one for her, she knew now. She knew he was right. She was in love with him. Not that she was ready to admit it, at this point. She wasn't quite ready to make things THAT easy for him, yet.  
But still, he did tell her how he felt. That was very sweet and charming. She couldn't really think straight right now with his tongue exploring her mouth, and his hands exploring her backside. Hers were running through his hair and she was finding it was all she could do to stay on her feet.  
The thought did occur to Betty briefly to try and 'act out' one of the many fantasies she had written about, especially since she had caught him reading them and he said he liked them so much. But she had been serious when she told him it was one thing for her to write those things. It certainly didn't make her a seductress in real life by any stretch of the imagination, however. Her previous somewhat disastrous forays into that role with both Henry and Matt had convinced her to stick to writing. Besides, he was going to have to do better than one date to get into the real Betty's 'pants', she reasoned.  
She pushed him away, both of them breathless. "I think we should go find the others, Daniel. Before we...get carried away here. I'm sorry, but I think you and I need to slow things down a bit. Fantasy is one thing, but we only really know each other as friends.  
I know this has been an emotional roller coaster for both of us, with all the life and death stuff, making things seem more intense, maybe. But, I still think we should take our time getting to know each other better as...more than friends, before we rush into anything. I'm sorry, I know you're used to..."  
He stepped back, straightening his shirt, and nodding, as he smiled that amazing smile of his, "No, I get it, Betty. I respect that. You're right. We need to date first. I know you're not 'that kind of girl' to sleep with me right away.  
Well, actually, I guess we did 'technically' sleep together already, but I know you won't have sex with me until you feel more comfortable with us as a couple first. I understand. It's fine, really. I can wait. Besides, I've always got my own personalized porn to satisfy me for now, thanks to you."  
She laughed, in spite of herself, although she turned bright red, "Thanks. I appreciate that. So, shall we go find our 'team'?"  
He laughed, "Should we call it Team Betty? That works, I guess."  
She smiled at him, "That's cute, Daniel. Okay, fine. Team Betty." She held out her hand. He took it looking down at their hands together and smiling back at her.  
They headed down to the street, with their two policemen following safely behind, both of them smirking, as if they suspected what the couple had been occupying their time doing all night. They only nodded politely as Betty and Daniel emerged from their suite at eleven thirty.  
They had texted everyone and had all agreed to meet at a little place the girls had told them about. It was a fifties-type diner, with a huge statue of Elvis outside. The men were all laughing at how 'kitschy' the place was. There was half a turquoise fifty-seven Chevy convertible on one wall, and a jukebox, a bar with red leather stools, and a huge inflatable Betty Boop in the window.  
Daniel saw a lamp, too. "Hey, look, it's you, sweetie. That's what I should call you, Betty Boop."  
"More like Betty Boobs. What's with the display, Betty? I thought you were Miss Modesty? Are we throwing caution to the wind, now that we're in the land down under?"  
"That's Australia, Marc. And I happen to like seeing Betty's uh...display. She looks great in a tee shirt. Get over it. Go order a cherry coke and put the moves on plastic Elvis for now. Don't worry, we'll find your dream guy here somewhere.  
There are a lot of Navy guys just getting off submarines. I'm sure the gay ones are desperate enough to succumb to your uh...charms." Daniel put his arm around Betty, protectively.  
After they had all wandered around the cute little gift shop, they sat down and ordered. Betty and Daniel ordered burgers and split an order of cheese fries, with a cherry coke.  
The others were watching the 'couple' closely and smiling at how protective and adorable Daniel was being with Betty. Amanda was grinning from ear-to-ear. She and Tyler were doing their own canoodling, as were Hilda and Bobby. Betty felt badly for Marc and Justin, being the only single men.  
They sat at two tables, next to each other, but they were the kind that came up from the floor, so they couldn't be joined. They invited the police escort to join them, and offered to buy them lunch, but the men politely refused to eat with them, maintaining a safe distance, so they could eat, and still watch the door.  
Justin sighed, "I think it's just adorable the way you two are finally out in the open now. It took AB getting kidnapped to force you both to see how silly it was to hide your torrid love affair from the world." He rested his chin on his fist, looking at Betty and Daniel, dreamily.  
Betty was smiling, but she kept kicking and elbowing Daniel, who was 'playing it up' with the boyfriend act a bit much for her tastes, nibbling on her neck and playing 'footsie' under the table with her.  
Finally, when he crossed the line, making a grab for her top, she swatted him away, and leaned down, 'whispering', "Dan-iel! Stop! Not in front of Justin, okay?"  
He nodded, grinning like a schoolboy at her chiding, and thoroughly enjoying teasing her. Out loud he said, "Sorry, Betty. It just feels so good to finally be out in the open with our relationship. I told you a long time ago, nobody would care if we were together. Who cares if I used to be your boss?"  
"Daniel, you're still my boss."  
He shrugged, "Yeah, but you're not directly under me, anymore." he grinned, "I mean, you don't work as my assistant anymore."  
Betty turned bright red, rolling her eyes at his little pun, and tried to change the subject from her and Daniel, as she shoved away his hands from her leg, she turned to Tyler, "So, you talked to Captain Sukki today? He doesn't know about the gun, though, right?"  
Tyler looked around, making sure the two policemen hadn't heard her and leaning down to talk quietly, "No. And he's not going to. But, with the reputation that Tony Martin has and this George Markus, and how he was more than willing to kidnap and drug you, and kill off three of his own men...I feel like I'd rather be safe than...dead, you know? I know how to use this baby, and I will if I have to."  
Amanda seemed turned on. She smiled, her eyes narrowing, as she hugged Tyler around the waist and kissed his cheek. She half-whispered, "Isn't he dreamy, being all 'bad ass' like this? I just want to rip his clothes off...oh, sorry, Justin."  
Justin shrugged, "Please. You guys don't have to keep it PG 13 for me. I am sixteen, you know."  
"You are? Well, gee, that's news to me, the woman who gave birth to you, Justin!"  
He sighed, rolling his eyes, "Well, I WILL be, Mom. Soon. Besides, with you as a mom, I've seen and heard a thing or two. I know what's what. You don't have to always stop talking about sex all the time, like I'm a kid or something."  
Marc smiled, patting Justin on the back, "Yeah, show the man some respect, here. He's been around. He survived three years in a row of summer internship at Mode, for Prada's sake! He's been in the bathroom. He knows all about sex! I even learned a few things from the ladies room myself."  
"What were you doing in the ladies room, Marc?" Betty looked at him, raising her eyebrows.  
Daniel turned to him, "Yeah, Marc. What WERE you doing in the ladies room. Were you lost?"  
Marc turned red, "Shut up, Daniel. I have half a mind to go back in there and correct the juicy items I read in there about you and Chimichanga and update them to read, 'Yes, it's ALL true! The truth about Daniel and his little Betty Boop is finally out!"  
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Chapter 24: Chapter 24: A Ride on the Wild Side  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 24: A Ride on the Wild Side  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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They looked at the list of five remaining names and addresses the Pastor had given Hilda and Amanda to speak to who might have information on the men who had kidnapped her.  
Betty studied the list, "I think we should go to Hawaii Kai first, since that's the closest to Waikiki. That's where Jason Matui's mother lives. We can rent a van and drive there this afternoon."  
The two policemen came over to their table, "Mister Meade? Do you have a second, sir?"  
Daniel got up and followed them. The older of the two officers looked at Tyler, "He's carrying a nine mill, right? The tall guy-your brother?"  
Daniel didn't know what to say. The man smiled, "It's okay. In this case, I'm glad to know one of you is armed, as long as he's experienced enough to know how to handle his weapon. I am going to assume it's legally registered and if it's not, I don't want to know. But, Captain Sukki's getting heat from his superiors to pull us off this case, I'm afraid.  
They're saying she's fine, and Kavika's in custody, so there's no immediate danger to her any more, and there's no more case to investigate. The captain and I don't agree, though. We're worried for her safety.  
But, with all of you keeping an eye on her, we're going to feel a little better having to leave. Make sure she's with one or more of you gentlemen and the same with the other ladies, just in case. I'd have Tyler is it? fairly close by anytime you're out somewhere, okay?  
Check in with us and let us know what you're doing. Here's my personal cell phone number. Call me anytime, day or night if you run into trouble you feel like you can't handle. Chuck or me will call you once a day, just to make sure you're all okay. You take care, Mr. Meade, and good luck. You guys run into a moke, no act, jus call us, da kine?"  
Daniel tried to process what the man meant for a second, "Thanks, and please, it's Daniel. But, I didn't quite get that last part, sorry."  
The man smiled, "If you run into a big, tough local guy you can't handle, don't show off for your wahines, call us for help, okay? You may THINK you're cops, but you're not. So, don't try to play at it. Let us handle it.  
Just because you got lucky and saved Miss Betty, don't think the man who took her will hesitate to try and hurt any of you. He's already proven he's willing to kill his own men, so...don't take any chances on you safety. Stick together as much as possible. Aloha, Daniel."  
"Aloha, and uh...mahalo."  
Betty looked slightly worried, as Daniel came to sit back down, "Daniel? What was all that about? Why are they leaving? Did they catch Markus or something?"  
Daniel shook his head, "No such luck. Captain Sukki's bosses think you're out of danger, since they've got Kavika in custody. He and his men don't agree. They said to call and check in with them. But...I guess we're on our own, now. Tyler, you're the armed guard. Maybe...you could teach me and Bobby how to shoot, too. There must be a firing range here on the island somewhere."  
Betty looked concerned, "Daniel, are you that worried? YOU are thinking about carrying a gun?"  
He shrugged, "It wouldn't be my first choice, no. But...if I have to. Although, frankly, I'd like to get a hold of that damn Kavika for how much he scared the hell out of you like that.  
Let's go rent a van or maybe a big truck, that's less suspicious. We'll blend in more with the locals. They all ride around in those big trucks. Then, we'll see what Matui's mom can tell us."  
"Sounds like a good plan to me. I don't know if I like bouncing around in the back of one of those trucks again, though." Bobby complained.  
Daniel smiled, "You're in luck, you're our most experienced driver, Bobby. So, you get to drive, and sit with the ladies in the cab. The rest of us men will have to ride in the back and get bounced around."  
Justin looked at Daniel, "You can't be serious! You expect us to ride around in the back of a truck, like a bunch of animals?"  
Daniel shrugged, "Hey, come on, Justin. You just got done telling us what a big man you are. Suck it up!" He put his arm around Justin as they left the restaurant to rent the truck.  
"I'm with Justin, why can't we rent a limo?"  
"Right, like the locals are going to talk to a bunch of haoles in a limo! Marc, that's ridiculous."  
"Well, I'm not riding in the back of a stupid truck!"  
"We'll get you a pillow." Amanda suggested.  
"I'll ride in the back." Betty offered.  
"Well, if you're riding in the back with Daniel, I'm riding in the back with Tyler, too. He can hold me and keep me from flying around, right, honey?"  
Tyler grinned, "Sure, sweetie. I think that sounds like fun. Marc and Justin can ride in the cab with Hilda and Bobby. That works."  
"Oh, well, if you insist." Marc grinned, happy to get his way.  
"I don't care. Either way. I mean, I'd prefer riding in a regular car, but if it's going to be couples in the back, I guess I'll ride in the cab."  
"Too bad Austin's not here, huh, Justin?" Marc teased, but Justin made a face at him, and shook his head.  
They crowded in the truck they rented and as Daniel and Tyler got into the back, they both helped Betty and Amanda up with them, and sat with the ladies next to them, on the floor of the truck bed.  
Once Bobby took off, around the mountainous curve of the H-1 on a very high cliff, overlooking the ocean, Betty and Amanda were getting thrown around a bit, but the guys were loving it, smiling at their 'girls' getting bounced around with them.  
"Wow, this is sure a lot more fun with you back here, Mandy!" Tyler laughed, as he grabbed tightly onto her to keep her from falling, and ended up with her in his lap.  
They rounded a bend, that appeared somewhat precarious, although gorgeous, with an almost hundred and eighty degree view of the Pacific Ocean below and in front of them. "Wow! This is so scary, but sort of exciting." Betty smiled, then Daniel grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap, as well.  
She looked at him, seeming mildly annoyed, "Playing it up, again, boyfriend? Fine, but no grabbing my boo...no grabbing me in front of my nephew anymore, okay, Daniel? Or I'm going to come clean and tell everyone we're just friends."  
"Sure, Betty. Tell yourself whatever you have to." He practically had to yell into her ear for her to hear him over the wind in the back of the truck.  
"You and I both know that's going to change, soon enough. You wrote that insanely hot stuff about me, about us. Like you said yourself, you could have written it about anybody, but you didn't, did you?"  
She tried to turn her head and ignore him, but he continued, when the wind died down so he could actually whisper, sending chills down her spine, "I don't understand why you're pretending you don't want me, when we both know you do. I get it, you're playing hard to get, now, right? Just because you're embarrassed or something. But you know, I did fly across an ocean to 'get you', Betty. I also told you I'm in love with you. What more is it going to take for you to admit you love me, too? You said it in your sleep, which means you know it. At least, subconsciously."  
She pretended she didn't hear him at first, so he stopped trying to talk to her. They careened precariously around another sharp curve, sliding them around more, and sending Betty on top of him. Daniel pulled her closer to him, and she looked up into his eyes. As they evened out on the road again, she pulled him down to her and kissed him wrapping her arms around his back and pulling him hard against her body, taking him off guard.  
Tyler and Amanda looked at the two, and then at each other, their eyebrows raised. Tyler shrugged, and grinning, kissed Amanda, as well.  
When Betty finally let him up for air, Daniel grinned, and hugged her closely, and kissed the top of her head. He wasn't entirely sure where her head was at right now, but he was hoping her move meant she would eventually remember what she had told him the night before, He wished fervently she could have really been with him all those days and nights instead of him having his hallucinations of her.  
He hated that she had been so scared. He hugged her even closer, determined to keep her safe, from now on. Until they found the man who had done this, Daniel was not letting her out of his sight.  
They went past Sea Life Park, and past the blowhole, then up into a very exclusive area, with a horse ranch and a long, gated drive. This couldn't be Jason Matui's home, could it?Bobby pulled up in the driveway, and they all got out, looking puzzled.  
"See? We SO should have gotten the limo, like I wanted!" Marc complained. "How was the ride back there, Mandy? Mandy! Lord, woman, your hair is a mess! Here, take my mirror. Is it that windy back there?"  
"Mmhmm..." She smiled, grinning at Tyler, whose hair was also mussed, but not entirely from the windy ride, of course. She looked at Tyler, seductively, "Wow! That was...wild! I want to do that again. Now I see why women like to ride horses."  
Tyler laughed, "Good, I'll take you horseback riding in South Dakota when we get back home."  
"Baby steps, Tyler. Baby Steps." She purred. "I just rode in the back of a pickup truck. ME, Amanda Tannen-Sommers from New York. That's a BIG DEAL, believe me. But, it doesn't mean I'm quite ready to go to a rodeo yet! Besides, the fun part was grabbing and getting grabbed." she grinned at him.  
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, and whispered, "Yeah, I sort of thought that was pretty fun, too."  
Betty looked at everyone, "Well, I guess we should just go up to the gate and see if they'll let us talk to Mrs. Matui. What's it say her first name is? Leilani? Tyler, you uh...have the you know what, just in case his mom isn't a nice lady, right?"  
Tyler patted his belt, where he had the gun and nodded, "Yep. Ready. Let's do this."  
Amanda grabbed his arm, "You're so hot, Tyler." He smiled at her. "You, too, sweetie."  
They got up to the gate and there was a speaker and a button for an intercom system to the main house. Betty started to push it, but Daniel shook his head, and put his finger to his lips, motioning for her to stand behind him. "I got this. You're not here, as far as anyone is concerned, you're in protective custody, okay? Will you let me handle it, please?" She nodded, and got behind his arm, so she wasn't in view of the camera, as Daniel pushed the intercom button, "Hello? Is Mrs. Leilani Matui here?"  
After a few minutes, they heard a crackle of the speaker, "Who are you looking for?"  
"Leilani Matui?" he repeated.  
"Who wants to know?"the somewhat arrogant sounding female voice asked.  
"Daniel Meade, and seven of my friends. We got this address from Pastor Cardines in Nanakuli. He told us Leilani was Jason Matui's mother. We have some important news about him. We need to speak to her. Is she here?"  
"She works here, but she's not on duty right now. She lives in the back. There's a small trailer. You can drive up behind the main house and park in the back. I guess she's there. I'm not really sure. It's her day off. But, once you've spoken to her, you have to go back out through the gate. It doesn't open automatically. You know, the police were already here to talk to her several days ago. I...heard he died."  
"Yes. Well, we do still need to talk to her, though. It's very important. Thank you. Uh, mahalo."  
"Okay, fine. I...just a minute. I'll let you in."  
They got quickly back in the truck while the woman opened the gate for them.  
They stood outside the rundown trailer, behind the mansion up on a hill, overlooking the ocean. Daniel couldn't help notice that although the trailer was extremely dirty and rusted, it still had the same million-dollar view as the mansion.  
He knocked hard on the door, and Tyler and Bobby stood to the side, just in case they were met with an unfriendly greeting. An extremely large, tall, Hawaiian woman, with long black greying hair, in a single braid, wearing a red, frayed muumuu slowly made her way to the door. It was clear she had some trouble walking, either due to her weight, or her age, or a combination of the two.  
She opened the door, hesitating somewhat to see so many people at her door, "Howzit?"  
"Uh...aloha, Mrs. Matui?"  
"Yeah. Dat me. Whaddsdascoops? You all sellin? Me no got no money to buy nothin."  
"No. We're here about your son, Jason."  
"Dat kolohe! He maki die dead. He my son, but he one lolo buggah. He nevah give me no kokua wif nothin! He jus give me trouble da kine!" She seemed to be trying to play tough, but was clearly upset.  
Betty stepped forward slightly, and put her hand on the woman's sympathetically. "I only met your son once, Mrs. Matui. But, he was polite and kind to me. I'm sure you tried your best. We're all very sorry for your loss. We're really sorry to bother you, but could we please come in and ask you some questions? We think he may have gotten mixed up with some very bad men who were the ones who caused his death. I was...kidnapped over a week ago and my friends here and I are trying to find out who did it. Whoever it was is likely the same man responsible for your son's death, as well as two other men."  
The woman looked at Betty, narrowly, then a wave of compassion seemed to come over her, and she waved them all in, and hugged Betty, "My son hurt you? I'm sorry if he did. He nevah used to be a bad kine. He got mixed up wif da wrong kine a men, dat fo shuh! I try ta get him in da army or somethin aftah his dad die. Sit down, you all want some pu pu's? I got some food, if you want some grinds. You eat?"  
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Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Confessions at Sunset  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 25  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
The group spoke to Jason Matui's mother for some time. She got up and went to a bedroom, and returned with a cell phone. "Dis Jason's old cell phone. Maybe dere a number fo dat guy on here or somethin you can use ta help. Da police got his uddah phone, but he jes got it. He had dis one a long time, I tink."  
They thanked her for the information and the 'pu pu's' and started to leave. As they all headed for the truck, two large men seemed to appear out of nowhere and tackled Daniel to the ground before anyone knew what was happening.  
"What the hell?" Bobby and Tyler tried to pull the men off of Daniel, but to no avail.  
Bobby was out of breath, trying to wrestle one of the men, "God, this one's like a freakin tree! What's in that poi, anyway? Tyler, take out your gun and shoot it up in the air, maybe that'll get them off him."  
Tyler nodded and managed to get out from under the behemoth he was under so he could comply with Bobby's suggestion. Finally, he was able to fire a shot in the air, causing the two men to scramble off of Daniel, who didn't seem to be breathing.  
Tyler yelled, "Get the hell off my brother! Why are you here? What's you're 'beef' with us, anyway?"  
"We duh security fo da house. Why you hea?"  
"Some woman from the main house let us in the gate." Bobby explained to the two men. To Tyler, he asked, dropping to his knees beside Daniel. "Do you know CPR?"  
Tyler shook his head, "Not really. Do you?"  
Bobby nodded, "Yeah." He began doing chest compressions, and after a few very tense moments, Daniel coughed a bit, and started breathing, but still didn't open his eyes.  
Tyler leveled the gun towards the two security guards, "Look, we went to the gate and they let us in. We were here, talking to Mrs. Matui in the back. We didn't break in or anything. You'd better hope he's okay. I swear, if you hurt my brother..."  
The two men raised their hands, "Hey! We gotta call, tellin us somebody break in ta duh grounds."  
Betty was on the ground, trying to get Daniel to wake up. She called nine-one-one, and leaned close to him, "Daniel! Wake up, please! Are you okay?"  
While they were waiting for the ambulance, the homeowner came out, adding to the chaos, concerned about what was going on on their property. The middle-aged woman and man insisted they had NOT While they were waiting for the ambulance, the homeowner came out, adding to the chaos, concerned about what was going on on their property. The middle-aged woman and man insisted they had NOT called or in anyway alerted the security guards to attack Daniel, since they indeed, did admit to letting the group through the gate earlier.  
The ambulance arrived, and put Daniel into the back. "We can take family only with. Tyler nodded, "I'm his brother. And she's his fiancee." Betty looked at Tyler briefly, but didn't correct him. The paramedic motioned them both to get in and nodded to the rest, "The rest of you can follow us. Queen's hospital."  
After an extremely fast and wild ride, with Amanda squeezing into the cab, they made it to the hospital within less than twenty-five minutes, flying through traffic, running red lights behind the ambulance.  
Once they wheeled Daniel into the emergency room, Betty started pacing up and down the hallway. "Why is it taking so long?"  
Amanda held her arms around Tyler, "He's going to be okay. You guys did all you could to help him. He just is...passed out or something. He'll be okay. He has to be."  
Tyler nodded, patting his hand on her back, "Yeah, of course he will. I'm like Betty, though. I just wish somebody would come out and say something. It's been almost an hour. I don't understand what's taking all this time. Can't they just give him something to wake him up?"  
Just then, Bobby pointed towards two doctors, who appeared to come out of the room they all thought Daniel was taken into. The men were deep in conversation, and seemed oblivious to the small crowd that had gathered in the hall and were intently listening in to them.  
"Shame about that fella. Looked like his ribs broke and punctured his lung. He was way too young to die."  
Betty's eyes went wide with terror and began to glisten as she frantically grabbed one of the doctor's arms, "Who are you talking about? Who died? Not DANIEL? No...he...he didn't...he couldn't have DIED!"  
The young intern looked frightened and concerned that he had spoken out loud and a relative had overheard him. "Sorry, Miss."  
"Not today, anyway. Although, my chest sure hurts like hell! Thanks, Bobby."  
"DANIEL! Thank GOD! You're alive!" Betty's eyes lit up when she saw Daniel, standing in the doorway of a different room than they had all been watching.  
"Of course I am."  
She ran to his arms and hugged him so tight he put his hand to his chest again, and winced, "Ow, Betty, that hurts. Don't hold me quite that tight right now, please. I'm not dead, but I AM still sore. I don't know if it's from the security guard who mistook me for a linebacker or Bobby's CPR."  
"Sorry, Daniel." Bobby slapped his hand, "You okay?"  
Daniel nodded, "I'm good. Seriously, thanks, Bobby. Hey, at least you didn't have to do mouth-to-mouth, huh?" he laughed.  
Tyler walked over to Daniel, clearly relieved that he was alright. "You're feeling alright, now, uh...brah?"  
Daniel nodded, smiling, and slapped his back, Yeah, braddah, I'm good. Well, at least, I will be, when Betty stops squeezing the hell out of me."  
She pulled away, "I'm sorry, but you scared me! Don't ever do that again, Daniel! Those doctors said someone died! I thought...I was so worried it was you. I can't lose you like that." She started to sob, clearly overcome with not only her concern over Daniel's welfare, but the stress of her whole ordeal, sinking in more fully to her, all of a sudden.  
Daniel gently put one arm around her back and one on her head, patting it and whispered, grinning, "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Betty."  
Marc and Justin volunteered to go through the numbers on the phone Jason's mother had given them, following up on any possible leads with it while the couples all went back to the hotel.  
Marc insisted, "But we're hiring a cab. I'm not riding in a stupid truck again, even up in the front made me feel like I was on a trampoline. I seriously think my balls got bruised, bouncing up and down so much."  
"Try riding in the back, you pansy!" Amanda teased.  
"Please. You loved it. You got your cowboy lover holding you down so you didn't bounce out of the back or anything. Besides, you women get off on being bounced up and down. I would have been thrown out, if I would have ridden back there.  
At least, without a nice strong man to hold me down. Ooh, that's making me lonely. Now, I'm sad. Go, enjoy yourselves, couples. Justin and I will take over the detective work for now, since we're the relief team, I suppose."  
Amanda hugged him, "Thanks, sweetie. We'll see you later. Call us and let us know what you guys find out, okay?"  
When Daniel was released, Amanda and Tyler rode in the back, allowing Betty and Daniel to sit up front with Hilda and Bobby. Daniel glanced at Bobby, somewhat quietly, "Seriously, uh...thanks a lot for what you did back there, Bobby. That was really intense."  
Bobby just nodded, "No problem, man. You'd've done the same for me. I know, we've all got each other's back. We're uh...practically family here, right?"  
Daniel smiled slightly, putting his arm around Betty, who seemed to be looking at him with new eyes. And he liked it. "Maybe. We'll see, I guess."  
It was close to sunset by now and Hilda suggested they stop for dinner and drinks at LuLu's, a second floor bar, that served good casual food, with a great view of Waikiki beach they could sit and enjoy for sunset.  
They started up the steps. "It's above one of those ABC stores?" Daniel commented, on their way there.  
"Don't be such a snob. It's a fun place. The food's decent and they have live music at night. Plus, the view's awesome up here. It's slightly better than at the hotel rooftop bar down the street, even. Come on, you guys will love it. We came here a few nights. It's great."  
"Aww, were you missing me, when you came here at sunset, baby?" Bobby teased Hilda.  
"No. Not a bit." She smiled.  
"Right. I know you women. You were probably all drunk, and hitting on the cute waiters here, but secretly wishing us guys were here with you." Bobby grinned, squeezing Hilda around the waist, and kissing her forehead.  
She hit his chest, playfully. "You think you're so special, huh?"  
"Yep."  
"Shut up."  
"Make me." he smiled. So, she smiled back at him and did just that.  
Amanda and Tyler found a seat at the long bar that lined the front of LuLu's, facing the beach.  
They kissed, and Hilda and Bobby were happily enjoying each other's company, as well, as they sat on the other side of Tyler and Amanda.  
Tyler motioned to another few empty seats, "Here, Daniel. You and Betty can sit here."  
Hilda shook her head, looking around, "This is great timing. Usually, this time of day, this place is packed, with people waiting for a seat."  
"Yeah, but that was on the weekend, so maybe they're not as crowded during the week." Tyler observed.  
"I guess. I think we just lucked out." Hilda replied. The waitress came and took their drink orders while they looked over the menu.  
Daniel looked out, nodding towards the beach, "It's really nice here. I remember hearing you telling me about this place on the phone, when you first got here and wishing I was here, with you. Betty, are you okay? You haven't said a word, since I got out of the hospital. I'm fine, really. You don't need to be worried about me. Like I said, my chest is just a little sore, that's all."  
She looked down, and grabbed his hands in hers, shaking her head. "Daniel, when I heard that doctor say someone had died and I thought it was you...I...I just couldn't breathe. It felt like the whole world just collapsed all around me. Nothing in my life made sense. Thank God, it only lasted a second, but that fear, that loneliness. You went through it for almost a week, when you thought I might be dead. I'm so sorry you had to go through that for me. Because if you felt anything like what I did for just that minute or two..." She put her hand on her heart, her eyes full.  
He put his hand over hers, and grabbed both of her hands, kissing them, as he kept his eyes steadily on her. "Oh, yeah? Really? You'd miss me that much, huh? That's uh...nice to hear. You sure you wouldn't just find another guy to write hot stories about if I weren't around anymore, Betty? I thought I was just the 'type you needed'? So, you're saying...maybe I'm more than that, after all?"  
"Daniel, come on. You know you're much more."  
"You'd really miss me, if I weren't around, Betty?"  
She rolled her eyes, "Yes. Now you're milking it, Daniel."  
He leaned closer, "Hey, well, I think I'm entitled, Betty. You got the fear of God, thinking I had died for what, all of two minutes, maybe? And you're seriously freaked out. Think about how crazy I was going after six days?"  
"Five."  
"You're not counting for the time difference. Six. And an extra few hours and minutes. Every second I thought you might be gone was agony, Betty. That's why I've completely stopped trying to deny my feelings for you anymore. I love you. I know I do. I wouldn't have felt so empty and lost, thinking I'd lost you if I didn't. I know that now."  
He wrapped his arms around her and she looked up at him. He whispered, "Oh, and about that kiss you laid on me in the back of the truck, Miss Suarez. Wow! That was...awesome! So, what do you have to say for yourself?"  
She sighed, "Nothing. I plead, temporary insanity. I was swept up in those eyes of yours, okay?"  
"Well, what about now? How do you feel about me, now that you got a little taste of what it would be like without me to kick around?"  
She put a hand on his cheek, "I didn't like it one little bit. I'd miss you. And you're not just a type of guy I needed for my story, Daniel. You're the only guy I would ever write that way about. The only man I've ever felt that way about. I...love you, too."  
He grinned at her, "It's about time you admitted it."  
She smiled, "Shut up and kiss me, Daniel."  
"You're so bossy, Betty."  
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Chapter 26: Chapter 26: A Full Moon over Indiana  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 26  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: This one's ALL DETTY! I figured, with all our couple's been through, they deserved a little 'alone time'! Warning: Betty's very own 50 Shades of D, 'coming up'! (Don't tell me you weren't expecting it since you first found out. Actually, this is just a tease...)  
The couples watched the sunset together, at LuLu's, cuddling and kissing and thoroughly enjoying the lovely setting. After they finished eating and listening to some Jack Johnson cover songs by a local musician, Bobby suggested they all take a walk on the beach before returning to the hotel. Everyone seemed to be in a very subdued, but happy and grateful mood.  
They stopped at the ABC store, looking around at souvenirs. Betty stuck an "Indiana Jones' style hat on Daniel, "Ooh, cute, I like you in that. Let me get it for you, Daniel."  
He looked in the mirror, obviously liking the hat, but shrugged, trying to act casually about it, "I...guess I could use something to keep the sun from frying the top of my head. Since my hair is so thin, now!"  
She laughed, and leaned close, "It's not that, I just remember your mom telling me what a big Indiana Jones fan you were as a kid. I want you to have some fun, re-live your youth."  
"Watch it, young lady. Are you calling me old?"  
She grinned, "No, of course not, Daniel. I wouldn't think of it."  
He started wandering around the store, and had a gleam in his eye, "Aha! Found it! YOU are gonna wear THIS for me, Miss Suarez. Now, we're talking fantasy!"  
She looked at the grass skirt and coconut 'bra' he had picked out. "There is NO WAY I'm wearing that, Daniel! You can wear it, if you want to, but...uh uh, NOT gonna happen. Dream on, Indy."  
He shrugged, taking it with him to the cash register, along with his hat, "You're wearing this, if I have to hold you down and put it on you myself. In fact, that sounds kind of fun."  
She tried to reach it out from his grasp, but he held it over her head, and finally, after he had already bought the items, he put his hat on and held the bag with the hula outfit out of her reach, and started walking towards the beach, following the others.  
He grabbed her hand to walk across the busy street to the surf. It was still well lit enough to see all the families, and couples, enjoying the waves, or just sitting, watching the tide roll in and out, some lost in each other.  
As she looked down at Daniel's hand intertwined with her own, Betty smiled, thinking that she couldn't be happier with how things were turning out with Daniel. She sighed, contentedly. He heard her and smiled, "A penny for your thoughts, Betty."  
She shrugged, leaning her head against his shoulder, and rubbing her thumb across his hand. "I'm just so grateful that I'm okay and you're okay. That we...you know"  
"Love each other?" he finished for her, kissing her forehead.  
She nodded, "Mmhmm...I just want to be done with this whole George Markus thing and get on with our lives, now that we realize how we feel about one another. Although, part of me never wants to go back to New York. It's so beautiful here. Well, aside from getting kidnapped, of course."  
He pulled her hand up to his and kissed it, then put his arm around her, "Do you know how happy you make me, Betty? I was beginning to have really evil thoughts about wanting to kidnap you myself and take you back to New York, keeping you next to me all day every day until you admitted you love me, too. What...took you so long to say it?" he looked slightly hurt.  
She gave him a look, "Daniel, you can't be serious, why do you think?"  
He looked completely clueless, "I honestly don't know, Betty. We've known each other for four years, so why would it be such a big leap for us to suddenly realize that we're in love with each other? I don't think it's such a crazy thing. I mean, a lot stranger things have happened than best friends falling in love before. It's hardly like we met and got married the next day."  
"Because, Daniel. First, of all, you're...you know, you. And I'm me."  
"Yeah, well, the whole you're a woman; I'm a man thing springs to mind, Betty. Again, lots of women and men get together. Marc and most of San Francisco aside, the whole world isn't gay yet. Still not getting your hesitation here, I'm afraid. What, you mean, because I was your boss? Or I'm rich? I used to be a player? What's the big thing you see as making us so totally incompatible or whatever?"  
She rolled her eyes, "All of it! Yes, the player thing, the whole, you're this gorgeous, sexy, popular, yes rich, and sexy guy and I'm just your big, goofy, clumsy, geeky assistant from Queens with a big crush on you who wrote dirty stories about what I fantasized about us. It's embarrassing."  
He grinned, and held her face in one hand, getting closer to whisper, "Thanks. You said I was sexy twice, you know. Does that mean I'm double-sexy? Listen, about the whole geeky, goofy, clumsy assistant thing...okay, geeky, maybe a little, although, I personally thought the glasses were kinda hot, and the hair and overall look were just a phase, you were really young when you started at Mode, Betty. And the braces were kinda cute, although, I admit I like it much better now, so I can really see your great smile.  
Besides, even with all that stuff, you were still a really beautiful girl. I think I remember telling you that a time or two! I admit, I NEVER understood why you wore the clothes you wore, and covered up those amazing uh...well, let's just say you have a great body. And while I can understand you being modest, and that's very um... refreshing, you carried it to the extreme, though. I mean, I sort of get sick of girls wearing next to nothing, flaunting it all the time, but you went too far covering up."  
"No, you didn't get sick of them flaunting it. You're lying, and you know it."  
He grinned, putting his hands up, "Okay, okay, so I don't. You got me. I love it when girls flaunt it. I guess that's why I'm working at Mode, still. But, Betty, come on. You need to flaunt a little, too, girl. You've got the same body as a lot of really hot, curvy women. You know: Scarlett Johanssen, Beyonce, JLo, Kim Kardashian. None of them are size zero, either. They're all really curvy, like you. You've got an amazing body, and yet, you cover it up with sorry, but really weird clothes! I mean, you've gotten better, I admit. But, seriously, you've got to let me dress you from now on, Betty. Or better yet, undress you."  
She laughed, "We'll see. I'm still not wearing that grass skirt and coconut bra thing you got. You realize those are like itty bitty coconuts, right? Do I look like I could FIT into a itty bitty coconut?"  
He laughed, eyeing her tee shirt appreciatively, "Well, no. But, hey, that's okay, too. I can handle wardrobe malfunctions. I am the Editor-in-chief of Mode magazine. I'm trained to handle such things."  
"Yeah, I know you are. A little too well trained, Daniel. Another reason for my hesitation to pledge my undying love to Mr. been there and done that to every girl in New York."  
"Every girl except you."  
"Is that supposed to be a line? If so, you need to work on it, player. NOT a great aphrodesiac to hear you say, 'yeah, Betty, you're like the last one I haven't picked up yet, so climb aboard. Uh, no thanks, I was always picked last in school for every sport there was, even dodgeball, which to my way of thinking, was less of a sport, and more of an out and out torture! Now, I'm getting picked last for sex with Daniel, too? Not very flattering!"  
He stopped and pulled her towards him, "Betty! You don't understand, sweetie. I didn't mean it like that, like you were the last one I...got around to or whatever.  
I meant you were the best, and the last as in, after you, the Daniel shop is closed for business to anyone else besides you, you know? I'm sorry, I'm not as smooth as you evidently think I am, I guess. Look, I just meant, I don't want you to worry about me ever being tempted to cheat on you, because, frankly, I know I'm not missing anything. I've already 'seen what else is out there' unlike most men who are tempted, and I know for sure, you're the best."  
"I am? That's pretty sad."  
"Don't do that, Betty." He walked her slowly backwards, holding her around the waist.  
"Do what?"  
"Don't put yourself down like that. I don't want to hear it. You don't know how special you are. You're beautiful, but not just on the outside. You're the kind of woman that inspires men to be better, to not give up on themselves, to dig down and work as hard as you do. You're like Helen of Troy should have been. She was pretty on the outside, but you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met, inside and out. You make me happy, you lift me up, you make me want to get out of bed in the morning.  
You always have. Now, it's even better, because I find that my sweet, wonderful, best friend in the whole world, who always inspires me to be my best is also super hot and sexy, and the real cherry on top is that...you think I'm sexy enough to invent this hot little fantasy world where we were together. You know how much fun we're going to have, acting out every one of your little scenarios, Betty?"  
He was right next to her mouth, running his hand up her arm, now. She took a deep breath, inhaling his amazing cologne and wondering if anyone would mind if they just started ripping each other's clothes off right here on the beach and going at it. Yeah, maybe not in front of the families, she thought. Keep it clean, Suarez! At least... until you get him back to the hotel. Still, she managed to play it cool, "You sure can talk when you get going with all that uh...sexy stuff, Daniel. Although, I admit, you're sort of cute. You almost have me convinced." she smiled, looking up at him.  
He raised his eyebrows, "ALMOST? You're kidding, right? Geez, Betty, you're tough! That's all I've got, I'm afraid. You're the sex writer, why don't you tell me what to say to 'convince' you I'm on the level and not just trying to get you in the sack?" She gave him a look.  
"Well, yeah, okay, scratch that, of course, I AM trying to do that, too, but you know that's not ALL I want, Betty. It's just the first part of what I want for us. I mean, it is a really fun part and one I'm really, really hoping will happen tonight, since you've got me all kinds of turned on right now..." he said, hopefully, with his biggest puppy dog look he could muster, in the dimming sunset.  
She laughed, "Oh, my God, Daniel! You so need to put that look in a jar and sell it. You'd convince anybody to buy anything with that look! You're so...so..."  
"So...so...what, Betty? Hot, sexy, adorable, irresistible, charming?"  
"Annoying?" she giggled. "Okay, maybe...persistant. And a little bit...cute."  
"Cute? Cute? All I get is cute? What am I five?"  
She held up her hand and put his up to slap, "You were saying, Mr. mature?"  
"Okay, fine. Make up your mind. One minute I'm some ancient guy with brittle bone disease who needs to take naps and have his food pureed, and the next you accuse me of being a child you buy Indiana Jones hats for and bust my chops for liking to high five too much. Mr. Tough guy, Bobby there likes giving high fives, too, I'll have you know! And he was in the mob! Maybe. Almost. Sort of. Not really, right?"  
"No, not really." She laughed.  
After walking along the beach for some time, they all headed back to their hotel. Once they had said goodnight to the other couples, Betty went out on their balcony and watched the fireworks going off outside their hotel.  
Daniel stood behind her, and put his arms around her, kissing her neck, softly, "Do you have any idea how much I want you, Betty? I feel like we were meant to be together all along. I can't believe we never did anything all these years. I must admit, I've been curious. But I thought, she's too shy or too conservative for a guy like me. She thinks I'm some kind of freaky sex addict. Yet, here you were, a total hot girl, all along, just waiting to...well, you know."  
He was driving her crazy, nibbling on her ears and neck and running his fingers down her arms, she wanted...well, she wanted him. So much, she couldn't help to say so, "Daniel, I want..."  
"Tell me, Betty. Whatever you want, I want to make it come true for you. Anything you can think of...baby." He was nibbling on her ear, and running his hands softly down her arms.  
She tried not to laugh, but hearing Daniel talk 'sexy' to her, after so many years of them not 'crossing that line' had her a little freaked out. She hunched her shoulders, somewhat shyly, "Daniel, that tickles. I do...want you. But, I really don't know what YOU want or how to do anything all that sexy. That's why I was afraid before, you know? I don't want to be this big disappointm..." he turned her around and kissed her deeply.  
When they parted, he shook his head, looking into her eyes, as he placed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.  
"First of all, Betty, you could NEVER be a disappointment to me, okay? I love you. I just want to be with you, honey. I'm not expecting fireworks. Oh, look, we've got that, too, though, huh? I don't expect the earth to move, or the angels to sing. I just want to show you how much I love you, that's all. I want to hear you say my name in my ear as we're making love and I want to know you're going to be there, lying next to me, in my arms when I wake up in the morning. That's my REAL fantasy, Betty. Anything else is great, but that's the most important thing for me. So, can you handle that?"  
She nodded, as he slowly started unbuttoning his shirt, and smiling as she locked eyes with him and pulled off her tee shirt. He looked at her so intensely, she could barely breathe. She felt like she was in one of the romantic comedies she liked to watch and was just waiting for something crazy to happen to interrupt them.  
But, Daniel kept giving her a look that told her how much he wanted her and made her feel desired, loved, wanted. She thought about trying the first of her little fantasies out just to make sure he wasn't totally bored with her, since she didn't really have a clue what she was doing or how to be sexy like she knew he was used to so many women being with him.  
The way he watched her every move made her feel bold and confident enough to close her eyes and silently count to three, then surprise him by pushing him against the glass door and unzipping his pants, then pulling them down. As she saw his slightly shocked, yet delighted smirk, she continued to pretend she knew what she was doing and started to 'handle him'. He looked back and closed his eyes for a minute, softly whispering, "Uh, that's REALLY...really good, honey. It's just...you do realize, my ass is against a glass door. So, I'm basically mooning Waikiki beach right now. Not that I mind, I have a decent ass, so...you know, don't...Oh, God, please don't stop what you're doing right now, just maybe, when you get a chance, you could cover me a little..."  
She quickly moved the curtains between Daniel's posterier and the glass door and started laughing. He recovered himself. "Funny? Yeah, let's get me all excited and then well, okay, I guess it is kind of funny. How about we move this inside where it's more private, though?"  
"Daniel, I'm so sorry, I have no idea what I'm doing. I told you, I can write about...stuff. But, that doesn't make me an expert. You're the expert."  
"Nobody's really an expert. You just need practice, Betty. Luckily, I'm more than happy to let you practice on me. What you were doing felt just fine, believe me. I...uh, okay, yeah, that works, too. Thank God, you got your braces off!" She gave him a dirty look, and tried her best to remember what she had written in her first story and stuck to her 'script' so to speak. He pulled her up, kissing her passionately, and pulling off her shorts to start caressing her body and make her feel half as good as she had him feeling right now. He suddenly got a wicked look and whispered, "One minute!"  
He came back, holding the silly hula outfit in his hand. "Please, Betty? Come on, for me? You're gonna look so sexy, honey. You can go topless. Forget the stupid coconuts. You'll look better without them, anyway. I'll wear them later, maybe and you can laugh at me!"  
"Daniel! I'm not...oh, here, give it to me! I hate you!"  
"You love me, and you know it. Hey, you do have a blue bikini top in your luggage! Just wear that. No bottoms."  
"Daniel, you're disgusting!"  
"Hey, you're the one who just had my bare ass against a glass door for everyone to see, Betty!"  
She giggled, "Sorry! I'm sure it was very cute. All the girls got a real treat."  
"Well, that's true. Definitely...wow! You look great! Here. I knew you had a blue bikini top. You've been holding out on me all this time? You naughty girl!"  
"How did you know?"  
"I told you, it was my fantasy girl."  
"I thought you said I was Jeannie, like from I Dream of Jeannie? She didn't wear a hula skirt."  
"Whatever, just...here, let me help you. You're taking too long." He deftly took off her bra, before she realized what was going on, and gasped, crossing her hands to cover her breasts. Daniel just smiled and slipped the bikini top over her neck and turned her around to tie it, then turned her back around, admiring how she looked.  
"Yeah...you look SO sexy! Come here, please, sexy hula girl. I've got the girl of my dreams, telling me she loves me, wearing a hula skirt, life is good, Betty."  
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Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Their Eyes Were Watching God  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 27:  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
"Will you stop pacing?" Amanda told Marc. "They'll be here. They're finally out in the open with their little love fest. Daniel just rescued her and now he almost died yesterday! Give them a break, will you? Geez, Marc! How long has it been since YOU'VE had any time in the sheets? You do know you've got your pick of every branch of the military here, right? Not to mention, the unbelievable bodies on the surfers, the cute fire-dancer guys...and tourists from all over the world, too! You name it, they've got it here. And with great tans! Real ones!"  
"I know, I know. I've noticed, Mandy. It's just that Justin and I got some really good information from that guy Matui's phone yesterday, while you 'couples' were all, kissing and cuddling, watching the sunset and strolling on the beach."  
"Hey, we've been here a lot longer than you, Marc, remember? You wanted to be part of the second string. So, it's your turn to shine, now,"  
"Yeah, what did you two find out?" Hilda asked her son.  
Justin showed them several names and addresses, "We called all the contacts in his phone and noticed there is one number that we couldn't get a local address for, see, right here, it's listed as a New York number."  
"New York? That Jason was calling somebody in New York?"  
"You'll never guess WHO he was calling in New York, either!" Justin seemed excited.  
"Somebody we know?" Bobby asked.  
Marc nodded, "Oh, most definitely! He was calling a cell phone number that wasn't registered, it was just one of those disposable phones, so we thought we hit a dead end. But then, we went to the police station and shared it with Captain Sukki, and he said it was actually registered to a company called Grandview Charities. Sound familiar?"  
"That name definitely sounds familiar. I think I've heard Mom mention them before."  
Daniel came in, holding hands with Betty. "Hey, what's going on?"  
Tyler looked at him, "Hey, how are you feeling?"  
Daniel grinned, hugging Betty, "Good. Really good to be alive! "  
Marc said, so only Daniel could hear, "Do everyone a favor, will you? If you're going to moon the hotel pool area, give us a warning, please! I looked up and thought I was having hallucinations of a butt against your window last night!" he stared at Daniel, "I'm assuming that WAS your naked ass I saw?"  
Daniel nodded, and said quietly, "Marc! Shut up about that, okay?" Out loud he asked, "So, what's the news with our relief pitchers?"  
"Ever heard of Grandview Charities?" Marc asked.  
Betty's face fell, "Marc, are you serious? Grandview Charities? No way! That's who Jason Matui called? Did you tell Captain Sukki who manages them?"  
Tyler looked confused, "Why does that name sound so familiar to me?" He looked between Daniel, Betty, and Marc.  
Daniel looked at his half-brother. "Uh, it's a non-profit organization that is owned and run by Hartley Industries. Your father owns it and his ex-wife, Matt's mother, Victoria is on the Board of Directors."  
"Matt Hartley, my...other half-brother? Yeah, from what I hear I'm lucky Claire's my mom and not her. I've heard she's a real...well, bitch, for want of a better word. But, what's she got against Betty? Matt and Betty left on good terms when he went to Africa, from what Amanda told me, right?"  
"She hates Betty with a passion! She blames her for Matt turning his back on his family's business interests and running off to save the world. The truth is, Matt's a total flake. Sorry, Betty, but you know he is. He could never make up his mind what the hell he wanted to 'be when he grew up'. He went from being a sports writer, to working at Mode when his daddy...okay, never mind, bad example. But, then he wanted to be a painter, he went to medical school, got part of a law degree, he was all over the place.  
Victoria was a big snob who got it in her head that Betty made Matt grow some balls and stand up to her too much, so she always hated her."  
"But enough to...be in on THIS? Having me kidnapped, and being involved in having Jason and his friend and...Marty KILLED? As evil as the woman is, I still have a hard time believing she would get her hands this dirty, Daniel. She may hate me, but having me kidnapped isn't going to bring Matt back from Africa."  
"I don't know, Betty. It might if she thought he was still in love with you." Amanda offered, "Look how quickly Daniel came running to save you. Maybe she wanted Matt to find out about you being missing and thought he'd come to rescue you, and that would get him home!"  
"Yes, but...if he did, that would only make him cling to Betty even more, once she was found. Unless, her plan was to make sure Betty wasn't ever found. If Matt blamed himself for Betty getting actually killed...it might make him feel guilty enough to come back to New York and stay there."  
"Daniel, I don't know. That seems...I mean, I spoke to my dad and he didn't know anything, since you guys didn't tell anyone I was missing. So, how would Matt find out? It wasn't released to any media in New York. Who would have told him?"  
Tyler raised his hand sheepishly, "Uh, sorry guys, but I emailed him when we were on our way here. I figured, since he used to date Betty, he might be able to help us find her."  
"It's okay, Tyler. You couldn't have known." Daniel re-assured him.  
"I'm sorry. I guess I walked right into her plans."  
"It's not your fault, Tyler. This woman is totally insane! She makes Wilhelmina look like a pussy cat."  
"Because of me, right? Victoria found out Mom was pregnant with me."  
"Well, I'm sure that didn't help, no. But, Cal and Victoria's relationship was already pretty rocky, then he started romancing Mom when she was pissed off at Dad for his cheating and she started drinking, so...well, yeah, that would have been about the time you were conceived, I guess."  
"What a nice bedtime story to tell our grandkids, baby." Tyler shook his head at Amanda.  
She looked surprised, "We're having kids?"  
He shrugged, "Well, sure, I mean...someday. Of course. Don't you want kids?"  
She grinned, slyly, grabbing his arm, "Well, after we're you know...married."  
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. We'll...get there, sweetie. Let's get these two married off, first, then we'll talk, okay?" he nodded to Bobby and Hilda.  
Justin shook his head, "Drama, drama. AB, I can't believe I'm saying this, because I used to like the idea of you being with a billionaire, like Matt. But his family...no offense, Tyler, but OMG! Nightmare! The Hartleys make the Meade's seem like Little House on the Prairie! That Victoria Hartley is scary! So's Mr. Hartley,"  
Tyler shook his head, "Yeah, tell me about it, Justin. I'm really hoping I inherited more than the alcoholism from my Mom's side of the gene pool!"  
Daniel patted Tyler on the back, "You're fine, Tyler. And don't feel guilty for anything. You did what any normal brother would do. Of course, you haven't even met Matt yet. You've been trying to reach out to him, and have some kind of connection to your family. It's understandable. I know, I wasn't very welcoming to you, to being a Meade, either, yelling at you when I first met you, then taking you out drinking, and trying to buy you off.  
And acting like a jerk when you started dating Amanda. I'm glad you're forgiving. And I'm really happy I listened to Betty, and got to know you better. I sort of missed having a brother. Especially after growing up with one. Now, I've got both!"  
After they had lunch, the group went to another of the names on Pastor Cardines' list of people, this time in Waimalu, but it turned out to be a dead end. At least it didn't take them long.  
They were still all reeling about Marc and Justin's discovery and debating how to handle the information about a possible connection to Victoria Hartley.  
Amanda was elected to call Matt directly and do some 'fishing' to see if he had received Tyler's email and knew anything about Betty's disappearance. She got his voice mail. "Hello? Matt, this is Amanda Tannen Sommers, from Mode. I know you remember me. I'm the one you dumped for Betty, basically, then later, you dumped HER to go run off to Africa and heal the world, or hug the whales or whatever. That's great, but...I just wanted to see if you had gotten Tyler's email about Betty getting kidnapped, possibly by your evil witch of a mother!  
Tyler is your half-brother, by the way. Which is really creepy, since I'm with him now, and he and Daniel are half-brothers, and if I'd slept with you, since you're his half-brother, too, that would just be too insest-y, I guess, but, anyway, call me back to let me know you got this message, please! We really need to talk! Bye!"  
Marc and Justin chuckled at Amanda's message. Justin raised his eyebrows, "I'm not quite sure what Matt will think about THAT message!"  
Marc laughed, "You've got to love her, she tells it like it is, that's for sure!"  
Betty was coming out of the ladies room at the hotel, when she felt a pair of hands grab her from behind, "What do you think you're doing here, by yourself? Where are your sister and Amanda?" She rolled her eyes, "Daniel, YOU just scared the heck out of me! Why are you stalking me in the bathroom?"  
He pulled her towards him, "I told you, you were going to get sick of me."  
She shook her head, "Well, I'm not sick of you, yet, but Hilda and Amanda are coming out in a second, okay? I'm sorry, I'm being careful, I promise."  
He kissed her neck and whispered, "I want you, right now. I didn't get nearly enough of you last night and this morning, Betty."  
She giggled, feeling slightly flushed at his advances. "Well, I guess we could sneak upstairs. Everybody's talking about going in the pool or hitting the beach, sort of scattering, anyway. I'm sure nobody would even miss us."  
He smiled, "I like the way you think, lady. Come on!" He grabbed her hand and the minute they got onto the elevator, he pushed her against the side, and kissed her roughly. She pushed him away, slightly, "Daniel...wait till we get in the room, okay?"  
He shook his head, nuzzling her collarbone, "Why? Nobody's even on the elevator with us, Betty. Who cares what we do on here?"  
She rolled her eyes, "You're incorrigible, you know that?"  
"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?" he smirked, as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, whispering, "I was thinking about moving on to Life with D sex fantasy number six."  
She giggled, "Are we up to six already? Wow, I guess you're right. Four last night and two this morning. At this rate, we'll be done before we get back to New York" she said, breathlessly, as she felt his strong grip holding her firmly against him, and she practically gasped at how quickly he had already slipped one hand under her blouse and the other up her skirt.  
She found it somewhat unnerving but also exciting just how much she had already begun to feel like she could do anything with him, and not feel silly, or embarrassed.  
He somehow had her convinced how sexy he thought she was, which for Betty, was definitely no small accomplishment.  
"I love you," he said, simply, making her pulse quicken, even more than his sexual advances, as he looked directly into her eyes.  
"I...love you, too, Daniel." she reached up on her toes, and kissed him with all the heat and passion she felt for him, knowing how much he wanted her and that she wanted him just as much, as they rather frantically made it back into their room, not even noticing the eyes watching them.  
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Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Friends and Family United  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 28  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: So glad to see people enjoying this 'paradise' tale of mine. This is a different kind of genre for me, but since I'm a Die Hard, and Hawaii Five-Oh kind of gal, (love to see hot guys running around solving mysteries), I figured I probably wasn't the only one! So, sit back, drink your Mango Margaritas and hang loose!  
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Late in the afternoon, Betty took a deep breath, and kissed Daniel's ear, then sighed, "Now that's what I call an afternoon delight! Wow! Uh, Daniel?"  
"Mmhmm?" he seemed to be occupied, reading his I-Phone. She took it from him, holding it over her head, "Will you stop? You're really starting to get on my nerves, reading all those. We don't have to...go through my whole line up of scenarios, you know! Besides, there are some things I don't even think YOU could do in there."  
He narrowed his eyes, planting a soft, delicate kiss on her shoulder, "Oh, now that sounds like a challenge, Betty! You should know me well enough by now to know I never walk away from a challenge. Especially when it comes to satisfying a lady."  
"Not helping your case, Daniel."'  
"Sorry. I meant satisfying you, of course. You and only you from now on. Besides, where else could I find a best friend, who is also such an amazing lover plus comes with her own ideas of what she likes in the bedroom? Hell, I haven't even tried half of these things you mention." He easily grabbed his phone back from her and waved it at her.  
"At least, not the way you say them. I think it's more the way you wrote about me, about us that turns me on so much, Betty. It's like...you knew, all along we would end up together like this. Like you could tell how great we'd be as a couple. You have no idea how sexy it is to have a woman like you talk about me like that. I only wish...you would have had the nerve to...you know, tell me a long time ago. But, I guess it's a mute point now."  
She looked at him, furrowing her brows, as he laughed, pointing at her, "Got you! I know it's moot, silly. You still think I'm that dumb? I guess that explains your hesitation. You secretly thought I was hot, but just too dumb to get involved with, is that it?"  
She got up, ignoring him and started to get dressed. "Hey! Where are you going? It's early. Nobody's expecting us yet. Betty, come back to bed. Please?"  
She sat at the side of the bed. He was laying on his side, putting his hand on her shoulder and reaching up to kiss it, as he mumbled into her skin, "I'm getting cold over here. Don't you want to..."  
She nodded, starting to get drawn back into those eyes, his kisses making her fuzzy again, but she shook herself, "No! Daniel, please get dressed. I'm hungry."  
"We can call for room service. Betty."  
"Daniel...we're in Hawaii, for goodness sakes. Don't you want to get some fresh air and walk on the beach and see the..."  
He rolled his eyes, but flung off the sheet, causing her eyes to pop, but he seemed oblivious to his own nudity, and started getting dressed in front of her. "Fine! You're right. How about we go to that place with the...what's wrong? What are you looking at me like that for? Come on, I thought you wanted to get out, get some fresh air and sunshine and stuff."  
She nodded, seeming a little dazed, as he grabbed her hand. "You okay?"  
She murmured, "Mmhmm...sure. Fine." As they got closer to the door, he suddenly grinned, and invaded her space, leaning down to her, stroking her cheek with his thumb, he whispered, "Were you just checking me out, Betty? Is that why you're tongue is all hanging out and you seem speechless, suddenly? You SURE you want to leave all this?" he teased, pulling her hand down.  
She blushed, "Daniel! Cut it out! Let's go, please?"  
"Begging for me, again? Awww..."  
She hit his chest, and giggled, "Shut up! You're so...goofy!"  
"Goofy? That's not what you said half an hour ago, Betty!" He teased, pulling her into the hallway.  
She laughed too, still blushing slightly, and they headed for the elevator, but Betty shook her head, "No thanks, we'll take the stairs. I don't trust you on an elevator, mister! I was so embarrassed when that poor family started to get on and you were...you know."  
He grinned, "I can't help it. If I'm alone with you in a small space, I get excited. Besides, Betty, you don't understand what I went through, thinking I'd never see you again. I went crazy. I really think I was starting to lose my mind." he kissed her cheek, sweetly.  
"Aww...that's very sweet of you to say, Daniel."  
He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips, smiling. "That's why you're staying right here, by my side from now on, Miss Suarez. At least until we get to the bottom of this. And, by then, I just may get used to being your Siamese twin and decide I like it so much, I'll just never let you go." he put his arm around her waist, squeezing her and kissing her on the head.  
"Well, isn't this a charming sight? I guess I was on the mark, at the UN, after all!"  
They both turned around, "MATT!" Betty looked shocked. Daniel held her even tighter, but glared at Matt, "You stay away from her, you sick jerk! I should have known you had something to do with this! I can't believe you claimed to ever love Betty and would have any part of this, though. Did you know she almost died? Do you even care? How could you? Why would you want to hurt Betty like that?"  
He was practically screaming, and several of their family and friends who had been in the lush courtyard pool area came at the sound of Daniel's raised voice.  
Matt looked at Daniel, his brows furrowed, and his face confused, "What the hell are you talking about? I would never hurt Betty. I'm here because of some email I got from that guy... Tyler. The one my Dad supposedly fathered with your mom. I flew all the way from Africa when I heard Betty was in trouble. I just got here this morning and I saw you two...together. So, do you want to tell ME what's going on? What happened to you, Betty?"  
"Like you don't know, Matt! You're SO not the guy I used to think you were." he swung around to see Amanda, in a bikini with some tall, dark-haired guy and intensely deep blue eyes. He looked at the man, then at Amanda, "Who's this guy?"  
"He's your brother. Not that your father would ever acknowledge him." she looked up at Tyler, who was looking at Matt intently, but kept one arm firmly around Amanda.  
"My father...oh, so you're..."  
"Tyler. Meade. You must be Matt Hartley." He extended his hand somewhat hesitantly, "I guess...you must be myother half-brother. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."  
Matt looked at Amanda and Daniel, and shook Tyler's hand. "I'm sure. You can't believe everything people tell you, though. Sometimes people don't always have all the facts. Thanks for the email. But, I still don't understand. I just listened to some weird phone message from Amanda and I've been trying to figure out what happened. I was worried. Betty, you're...okay, now? What happened to you?"  
"I was kidnapped. A week ago, by four men. Three of whom are dead now. The fourth is in police custody. There is...a possibility your mother is involved, Matt." She kept her gaze steady.  
He put his hand up to his eyes, "No! Betty, I...I haven't been able to reach her to let her know I left Africa yet. I know she's not the nicest person, but..."  
"Not the nicest person? She's a monster!" Amanda's face was red. "We all thought Betty was dead, Matt! Daniel brought Tyler and Bobby here and they rescued her from a box those guys stuck her in! They drugged her and we didn't know where she was..." she was tearing up. Tyler pulled her into his chest, stroking her hair, "It's okay, sweetie. She's okay, now. It's all over."  
"Who is George Markus? Some shady guy your mother hired to kidnap Betty and get rid of her, just so she could get you back to the states?" Daniel demanded.  
"George Markus? I have no idea. I never heard that name before, I swear. Look, I don't know why you seem to think my mom's involved with this. I mean, I know she never got along with Betty, but..."  
"Matt, she did hate me. She blamed me for making you decide to go to Africa." Betty narrowed her eyes, looking at his reaction, trying to 'read' his expression.  
Matt shook his head, "Why do you think she would go this far, though? That's just nuts! My mom is no saint, I'll grant you, but she's not a kidnapper Or a...murderer."  
Marc had on a huge hat and sunglasses, and was wearing a Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned over his swimming trunks. He held a cell phone, "We know she was involved, because we found the number of one of the foundations she's on had been called several times from this phone. It happened to belong to one of the kidnappers. One who's now dead."  
Matt looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. He found a nearby beach chair and sat down, looking at all their accusing eyes. Just then, Hilda, Bobby, and Justin came up, grinning and laughing. "Hey, AB, I have the theme down for Mom and Bobby's wedding! Look at...hello, Matt."  
"Hey, Justin. Good to see you." Matt barely looked up. When he did, Hilda punched him, square in the jaw, "You son of a bitch! You almost killed my sister! You've got a lot of nerve, showing your face mister!"  
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Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Lovers I Still Can Recall  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 29  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
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"HILDA! Matt, are you okay?" Betty went with Justin to help Matt sit back up.  
Matt's lip was bleeding slightly. Betty gave him a napkin that was on the patio table. "Here. Sorry about that. My sister's a little overprotective." She was smiling slightly. Matt looked up at her, "You think it's funny?"  
Daniel walked closer to Betty, "Yeah, it's freakin hilarious, dip-shit. If it'd been me, you'd be unconscious."  
"Yeah, I remember the last time you hit me. What was that for, again? Oh, yeah, you didn't like me asking Betty if you two were sleeping together. And damn if it doesn't look like I was right about that one, after all, huh, dip-shit?"  
Bobby scooted Daniel away from the table, "Okay, okay. You both got big balls. We're all impressed. But, I'm warning you, buddy, you'd better not piss off my fiancee again, or you won't have any cajones to worry about. So, you got proof that you were in Africa up until you got Tyler's email and didn't have any contact with any of those four guys? How about you let me see your cell phone, so Justin and Marc can check it over, to see if any of the guy's numbers was called?"  
"Fine! Here. Check it all you want. I didn't call anybody in Hawaii while I was in Africa, that's for sure. Would it be okay with the posse here if I actually talk to Betty alone?"  
"No way, asshole! Not happening. You're not getting anywhere near Betty."  
"Daniel. It's okay." She looked at him, pleading. But he shook his head, "NO! Betty. I'm not leaving you alone with him. It's crazy. He comes here, pretending to be mister innocent, but we don't know that. He could be full of shit."  
"I'll stand guard if you want, Daniel. How about that?" Tyler looked at him.  
"Fine! I'll be at the pool, right over there if you need me, Betty." He leaned down and kissed her, then glared at Matt and walked away.  
Bobby motioned for everyone but Tyler to go sit at the poolside with Daniel.  
Marc was still going through Matt's phone, showing it to Justin and they were comparing it to Justin's. Tyler sat down, on the other side of Matt from Betty.  
Matt glanced over at Daniel, who was watching them carefully. He looked at Betty, "So...I guess maybe you two actually owe me an apology for the UN! Not that I'm holding my breath."  
Tyler looked at Matt, incredulously, "Look, I don't care if Hilda hit you and hurt your little lip or Daniel punched you before. You don't have any idea what Daniel or Betty's sister have been through, worrying about Betty for the past week. We all thought she had been killed! Don't you get that, Matt?  
That's bound to put everybody's a little on edge, don't you think? Hell, I didn't even know Betty all that well before, other than she was my girlfriend's friend and Daniel's uh...girlfriend. And I was totally scared to death that we were never going to see her again. Since you dated her, I would think you would..."  
"I get it, okay! Yes, I was scared to death. Why the hell do you think I'm here? Why do you think I flew for thirty-six hours to get here? Only to first see the woman who told me nothing was going on between her and Daniel Meade now obviously sleeping with the guy, okay, I left, so that's her choice, she's a free agent.  
But, then, the jerk screams at me, accusing me of somehow being involved with hurting Betty, and so does Amanda, and finally, I get slugged by Hilda. I'm so glad I came all this way just to get accused by everyone and attacked! Betty, I'm very sorry you went through all that, I'm sure it was terrible, honey, but I swear to you, I had nothing to do with it, okay? You've got to believe me!"  
"Fine, Matt. I believe you. But, sorry, you don't get to call me honey. You left me, remember? You didn't call or email when you left. So, you're right, if I'm with Daniel now, that's totally my business, not yours. This isn't anything like when Henry came back to say goodbye and you had your little fit and acted like such a jerk."  
"Let's not go there, okay, Betty? About my mom. I just don't know. I wish I could honestly tell you she isn't involved. But I can't. I don't want to think she's capable of something like this, but..."  
"You don't know? Seriously? What kind of woman is your mother? God, I heard our father was pretty bad, but...she's worse?" Tyler looked scared of Matt's answer.  
He shook his head, "Hopefully, not. But, I haven't seen her for almost six months now. I wish I could tell you there is no way in hell that she's involved. I just couldn't say for sure. I mean, look at what Claire did? She's technically a murderer, too. But, I actually think she's a nice woman. I like her."  
Tyler raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, watch it, there. I was worried you were going to start trashing my mom. I'm sorry to say this, but I think I'm glad we don't share a mother, too."  
"Yeah, well, my mom is definitely a piece of work. That's for sure. Oh, hell, here comes your boyfriend, Betty." Matt nodded as Daniel and Hilda came over to the table, with Bobby and Justin. Justin handed Matt his phone. "Here you go, Matt. Here's your phone back."  
"So? Did it check out?" Matt glanced at Justin, who just nodded back at him. Matt put it away, and looked at Hilda, who was still glaring at him.  
Betty looked at her sister, "Hilda, I do believe him."  
Daniel just looked at Matt. "Did you fly commercial?"  
Matt nodded, "Yeah. I actually did. Why?"  
"So, then, you've got an airline ticket? Or did you go paperless?"  
"No, here. I've got a ticket." Matt dug in his pants pockets, and jacket and finally found a wadded up ticket."  
"God, Matt. You're still the messiest, most disorganized man I've ever seen." Betty commented.  
Matt smiled at her, "Yeah. That's me, Betty."  
Daniel glanced between them, obviously not happy that they were even talking to one another. He uncrumpled the wad of papers Matt handed him and scrutinized it, then nodded and dropped them back down on the table. "Fine. So, you just got here. What do you know about Grandview Charities? That's something your mother is on the board of directors for, right?"  
"Right. All I know about it is it's about five different charitable organizations that mom oversees. Each of the five is in a different area. One is homelessness, one benefits education, one is for uh..."  
Marc interrupted, "Yes, yes. We know all that. We googled it. There's one for homelessness, education, unemployment, drug abuse, and human trafficking."  
Betty and Daniel looked at one another. "Betty, those are all the areas you highlighted in your article."  
She nodded, "Yeah, I know."  
Matt looked up at everyone, "Look, I know I'm like the least popular guy here, evidently, but I actually did come to help. Whether any of you believe it or not, I'm extremely relieved that Betty's okay. I had nothing to do with her being kidnapped. As far as I was concerned, I left New York, and everything was great between us. But, by the same token, I didn't expect her to try to keep a long-distance relationship going indefinitely, so...I knew she'd probably move on. Obviously, she has.  
But that doesn't mean I have. I'm still in love with you, Betty. And Daniel can hit me again, or whatever for saying that, but I just needed you to hear me tell you the truth, so you'd know I'd never in a million years do anything to hurt you. If I do find out my mother is somehow involved, believe me, I want nothing to do with her. I'm just praying there's been some big misunderstanding here and she isn't implicated.  
Look, I'm dead tired. I'm going up to my room. It's on the other side of the hotel from the rest of you, room four eighteen, so...I shouldn't bother any of you. But, please feel free to call me if I can help. I'm going to go crash for about ten or twelve hours now, if you don't mind. Betty, I'm happy you're happy, honey. Even if it's with him. Goodnight, or good afternoon, whatever." He got up to leave.  
"So...that's my other brother, huh? Interesting guy."  
"I believe him, I guess." Justin looked at Marc. "You don't?"  
Marc shrugged, "I don't know. I suppose he was actually on the plane for a long time or whatever. So, he couldn't have been involved."  
"Yes, he could. He could have still emailed someone. He could definitely still be involved." Daniel looked at Betty, who was obviously still somewhat shocked at Matt's admission that he still had feelings for her.  
He took her hand, "Let's get some sun and take a swim, okay?" She nodded, as everyone else scattered.  
As they got into the water, Daniel watched Betty looking back at the hotel. He came up behind her, as she waded out towards him, slowly. "You're thinking about what he said, aren't you?"  
She nodded, "A little."  
He looked pained, "So...are you still in love with him, too, Betty?"  
She shook her head, "Absolutely not, Daniel! Oh, my God, I'm sorry if I made you think that for a minute! Not at all! Daniel, don't be silly. I'm in love with you! I was sort of shocked, him saying all that, is all. I meant to tell you, I actually went to the same place you took me to bury all that junk of Henry's and buried everything to do with Matt about three months ago. I've surprised myself, and not pined over Matt nearly as long as I did over Henry. So, your little closure trick really worked!"  
He smiled, "You actually did that? I totally made that up."  
"I know you did. But it worked, didn't it? It must have worked for you and the pills, too. Who cares if you did make it up? It still helped me immensely. Thank you, Daniel."  
"Sure." he grinned, and reached down from behind, holding her around the waist, and leaned over her neck, to whisper, "You wanna fool around in the water?"  
She smiled, looking up at him, "Sure."  
He pulled her around to face him and took her face in his hands. "I love you, Betty."  
"I love you, too, Daniel. Forever and always."  
"Oh, I like that. Forever and always, huh? Sounds like a good plan to me. Just long enough." He reached down to kiss her slowly, as she slid her arms around his back.  
As Matt made it to his room, he leaned against the door for a minute, taking a deep breath. Then, he made his way to the balcony, overlooking the lush courtyard surrounding the pool area and beyond, to the lagoon. He squinted, as he saw what he recognized as Daniel and Betty, kissing. He looked away after a few seconds, and went inside the room, flopping on the bed. He was so exhausted. Now, he was wondering why he had even bothered to come.  
He wasn't needed or wanted here, that was clear. Betty had definitely 'moved on' with Daniel. He couldn't even blame her. He had known when he left, he was taking a huge chance that she had no intention of waiting around for him to (finally) decide what he was going to do with his life. She had every right to move on, with Daniel or whoever she wanted.  
As he lay, musing on Betty and how upset she had been when he first told her he was going to Africa, he remembered their goodbye kiss in New York before he left. He drifted off, feeling that kiss. Hours later, he awoke to hear buzzing. He went to retrieve his phone, but looked at it carefully. It was similar, but this definitely wasn't his phone.  
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Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Pieces Falling into Place  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 30  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: It may seem like a lot of answers are out in the open in this chapter. But..all isn't always as it seems.  
I'd like to thank those of you that DO post reviews to this and my other stories. It's not easy to keep posting without getting feedback, so even if you just say 'hey, I like this story'; believe me, it's very much appreciated! Again, thank you so much, those of you who have PM'd your support, favorited, or followed my work! You're awesome!  
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Daniel was stationed outside the 'wahines' room downstairs, waiting for Betty to get out, when he glanced to the side just in time to see a fist coming right at him. Matt stood over Daniel's unconscious form, "You son-of-a-bitch! I can't believe you WERE sleeping with Betty all along! Way before she and I even got together! And you've got the nerve to act all self-righteous to ME?"  
Betty was drying her hands, and straightening her blouse from yet another 'fun time' with Daniel, this time in the supply closet. She got his text to meet him outside, and they would 'sneak off' together for some fun. She text-ed him back, "You're crazy! We just had 'fun'. Aren't you tired?"  
She read, "Hurry, D is waiting for you, B."  
She shook her head and smiled, then stepped outside to see Daniel, lying on the floor, and Matt, standing over him, holding his phone, obviously both furious and hurt. He grabbed Betty roughly by the hand, "Come on, you liar! We need to talk alone NOW!"  
"MATT, let go of me! What did you do to Daniel? Is he okay? Stop! Help!"  
He put his hand over her mouth,"Cut it out. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want some answers about why you lied to me, Betty!"  
He shoved her onto the elevator. She started to knee him in the groin, but he backed away, then got behind her, and grabbed her arms from hitting him. "Stop it! I'm not trying to hurt you, I just found THIS on Daniel's phone. Do you want to tell me why you were seeing me for almost a year while you were still screwing him behind my back? Then, you LIED about it to my face?"  
Betty looked shocked, "First of all, what are you doing with Daniel's phone?"  
"Never mind that. Justin mixed up our phones, I guess. If you must know, the only reason I looked onto his phone is you changed your number and never bothered to give me the new one. I was just trying to find it. When I looked under your name, I saw that file of all your little diary entries about your secret affair with him." He looked incredibly hurt. "How could you betray me like that? I thought I knew you, Betty. I thought we had something."  
"That never happened. Well, I mean, some of it has, just recently. But, Matt, none of that happened in reality before. I wrote those things, but...Daniel and I never were together until he came here. I made it up."  
He looked confused. "YOU? You made all that stuff up, but you never actually slept with him until...he came here to find you?You really expect me to believe that? How stupid do you think I am, Betty?"  
"Matt, I swear to you; it's the truth! Daniel didn't have any idea I wrote those things until he came here to find me and saw that file on my laptop, okay?"  
He calmed down, leaning against the side of the elevator and handed her Daniel's phone, "Here. Fine. I'm sorry I...but, wait a minute, Betty. You still wrote that stuff...about him, right? So, you can't tell me you weren't in love with him all along. I KNEW it! I could tell you were.  
And you pretended like I was being ridiculous. Just like with Henry. That stuff you wrote, Betty...hell, we never did anything like that! You...uh, really feel that way about him, I guess, huh? No wonder it always seemed like you were holding back with us. Or are you going to tell me that was my imagination, too? I don't see how you can, after having written that."  
She had tears in her eyes, "I suppose I was in love with him all along. You're right, okay, Matt? I do appreciate you coming here to see that I was alright.  
But, maybe you should leave. Obviously it hurts you to see me and Daniel together. I'm sorry, but...I love him. I probably always have. I just thought writing that was my way of dealing with my feelings for my boss that he would never return. But I never cheated on you. With him or anybody else. And I didn't mean to hurt you.  
Now, if you're done making me feel like I've been kidnapped again and assaulting Daniel, I'm going to go see if you hurt him. I know we're done as far as I'm concerned!" She pushed the button and bolted out the door to run downstairs to find Daniel and see if Matt had seriously hurt him. Just as she was stepping onto the main floor, she ran smack into a woman, "Sorry! Mrs. Hartley?"  
"Hello, Betty."  
Betty started to back away from her, her blood running cold at just the sound of THAT woman's voice, "What are you doing here?"  
"I'm here to find my son. I heard he flew back from Africa and came here, looking for you."  
"Mom! What the hell are you doing here?" Matt had followed Betty down the stairs., and stopped in his tracks at the sight of his mother. She moved towards him, but he backed away.  
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Since you haven't bothered to keep me in your life lately, I've had to resort to using private detectives to keep track of your whereabouts. Now, I see you've wasted your time flying half way across the world just to chase this woman down. Just as I suspected you would. I thought I brought you up to have better taste, Matthew!"  
"Mother, did you have a hand in kidnapping Betty?" Betty was shocked to hear Matt come right out and ask his mother about her involvement.  
Victoria didn't even pretend to be shocked very convincingly, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Matt-ie.", she smiled slyly.  
Matt looked annoyed, "I've told you not to call me that. I'm not a child! Look, just answer my question. Did you know anything about Betty getting kidnapped? She was writing a story about the same issues your Grandview Charities addresses. That hardly seems likely to be a coincidence, Mother."  
"What happened to Mom?"  
"Good question. What DID happen to you? You blame everybody, including Betty for me wanting to get away from you. The truth is; I got tired of your meddling, mother. Of you constantly telling me who to love and what to do with my life! You always try to manipulate me and everyone around me. You and Dad both!  
In Africa, I finally got to be my own man and learn how to finish something. Betty didn't want me to go. I left her. And now...I've lost her to Daniel Meade. So, I hope you're happy! You'd better not have had anything to do with her getting hurt."  
"Matt...don't talk like that. I never did anything that wasn't for you."  
He looked at her, mortified, "You...did this? You were involved? WHY, Mom? Why would you try to hurt Betty? She had nothing to do with me leaving. Like I said, it was MY idea. She was upset that I chose to go to Africa."  
"I knew this was the only way I was ever going to see you again. I knew if something happened to Betty, you'd come back to the US. If you heard she was in trouble, you'd come running. I must admit, I think it's rather ironic that you said she's now with Claire Meade's son, Daniel.  
At least that's better than that bastard child of your father and hers, I suppose. But what did you expect from a woman like that, Matt, darling?"  
"Excuse me, Victoria? I can't imagine how you have the NERVE to insult me after you just admitted to being involved in having me kidnapped! Do you not even care that you're going to jail?"  
Victoria looked at Betty haughtily, and gave her a snide smile, "You can't be serious! Matt would never turn in his own mother."  
"He won't have to. I just heard you admit it, too." Daniel walked over to Betty, "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"  
She shook her head and hugged him, "Don't worry about me, Daniel. I'm fine. Are you okay? Did Matt hurt you?"  
He shook his head. "Nah. He just knocked me out for a few minutes. I've been all over, frantic, looking for you. I was afraid you got grabbed again. But, I see you found the guilty witch on your own."  
"Excuse me? You don't talk to me in that way, Daniel Meade!"  
"Well, maybe you'll allow ME to talk to you that way, then? I'm the one you tried to have arrested for attempting to even talk to Matt before, Mrs. Hartley!"  
Victoria glared at Tyler with disdain, "You're that bastard of Cal's and Claire's? You look about like the sort of low life son those two would produce!"  
Tyler set his jaw, "Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mrs. Hartley. I'm definitely glad I chose to take the name Meade when Claire and Daniel offered. I'd much rather be associated with the Meades, that's for sure."  
Daniel hugged Betty, kissing the top of her head. "Hey, you sure you're okay, honey?" She nodded, putting her hand on his jaw, seeing that it was swollen. "How about you? He knocked you out? I was so worried."  
"This is so touching. I think I'm going to be ill. I'll be leaving now." The woman started to act as if she were simply leaving.  
"I don't think so. We've already called the police. They'll be here in a few minutes, Mrs. Hartley." Hilda eyed Victoria as if she wanted a few rounds with her, as well, but Bobby and Justin both held her.  
"You can't think my lawyers will allow me to actually spend any time in a jail. I'm not as stupid as Claire!"  
Daniel and Tyler both looked at her as if they wanted to hit her. Betty held them both back, "Guys. She's not worth it. She's just jealous, because she knows Claire Meade is twice the woman she'll ever be!"  
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Chapter 31: Chapter 31: The Truth Will Out  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 31:  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!  
A/N: Okay, I know I've been hearing some of you saying you wanted a peak, so I'm giving you just a little 'taste' of 'D' here!  
After the police had finished questioning everyone about Victoria Hartley and had taken her away, amid her very vocal protests, the group looked at one another, in shock.  
Justin shook his head, "It's so sad when rich people go astray like that! She was dressed so well, too."  
Marc nodded, putting his hand on his young friend's shoulder. "I know what you mean. God only knows what prison here will do to the poor woman's hair. Remember Claire's disastrous do when she was finally released for Fey's murder? And that was in New York! The humidity here is much worse."  
"Yes, I noticed. What exactly is going on with your hair now, Marc? It looks like a poodle swallowed an electric socket!" Hilda shook her head sadly, examining his curly locks gone somewhat astray, frizz-wise.  
Marc batted away her hand, "Don't worry about ME, sistah! I just need some better conditioner. We need to discuss what's going on with your wedding now that this nightmare is over. We only have a week to pull this thing off. We don't have a minute to lose!"  
Tyler wasn't so easily ready to put aside their investigation in favor of wedding plans. "Uh, listen, I'm worried that this isn't over. I know she more or less admitted to hiring the two first guys, Jason and Taviika. But she insisted that was all.  
So who hired the other two and why were they all working together? Kavika and Marty seemed to be on their own, and Marty was the only one who really cared whether Betty lived or died. Something doesn't add up here. I think we've got somebody else involved who maybe didn't want Betty's story to see the light of day. Am I alone here?"  
Daniel shook his head, agreeing with his half-brother. "No, I think you're right, Tyler. I've thought all along that Tony Martin might be somehow involved. Everyone's been saying he wouldn't be threatened by Betty's story, that it wasn't going to touch him if she wrote it on the mainland, but I don't agree.  
It's a great story and it could end up affecting his dealers on the west coast to some degree. Especially the human trafficking stuff. Tourists might be a little more wary when they come here if they read her story, and it could cut into his supply of girls.  
Besides, nobody has still said who this George Markus person is. Victoria didn't know anybody by that name, either. It's got to be an alias for Martin or maybe it's someone he's working with on the mainland."  
Bobby looked at Hilda, who was frazzled and clearly had had enough drama to last a lifetime. "Baby, why don't you, Amanda and Betty all go to the spa and get a nice relaxing whatever you gals get there to uh...relax.  
Justin, you and Marc are on wedding planning duty, plus guard duty of the ladies. The rest of us will go talk to the police and maybe Pastor Cardines and make sure Victoria was alone in this and see if we can find out who the hell Markus is...or was. Sound like a plan?"  
Hilda squeezed Bobby's arm, and reached up to kiss him, "Ooh, baby, I just love it when you take charge like this! It's so...sexy! You should be on one of those Hawaii Five-O shows. You'd be so HOT!"  
He shook his head, grinning at her, then kissed her, "Thanks, baby. You're sweet. But go, have a little fun. I know you've been on edge ever since this thing started. I need my nice, beautiful, relaxed bride come Sunday. We'll hopefully be able to find out enough to tie up the loose ends with this thing, so none of us has to look over our shoulder at the wedding. I want all eyes on YOU when you walk down that aisle or path or whatever, okay! I love you, baby." He leaned down to kiss her again, this time more passionately.  
"I love you, too, Bobby Talercio. I can't wait to be your wife. Now go, be Mr. hottie detective or whatever, but be careful, okay? I don't want anything messing this up on my wedding night!" She waved her hand up and down in front of him, but he gave her a look, "I mean OUR wedding night, of course, baby!" He squeezed her, and grinned again, showing off those gorgeous dimples of his as he kissed the top of her head.  
She watched him as the three men left to go talk to the police, and blew him a kiss. He grinned and 'caught it'. Amanda sighed, "Awww...you two are so freaking cute, Hilda! I think seeing you and Bobby get married is sort of rubbing off on Tye tye. I can't believe he made that remark about kids the other day! Plus, he's so sexy, being all Mr. Bad-ass, now. I keep feeling his gun when we're making out and it gets me going because I'm never sure if it's him or his gun I'm feeling!"  
Betty and Hilda laughed at their friend, grateful for a little respite from all the drama. "You're so freaking crazy, Amanda!" Hilda shook her head. After they had gone to the spa to get massages and facials, Marc and Justin decided to join the ladies for a men's massage, so they could continue to discuss wedding plans. They were outside, in a 'tent' in the lush tropical courtyard, overlooking the ocean, enjoying Mai tais and relaxing.  
Hilda stopped to look at Betty, "Hey, mamita! What was all that hoopla with Matt about him being pissed at you and Daniel or something? What did HE have to be so mad at you two for? OH...right! I forgot! He just found out about you and Daniel and you're secret sex games. But, wait, you mean to tell me all that time, while you were seeing Matt, and with Henry and all that drama, you and Daniel were still...you know, doing all that stuff you wrote about?"  
"Wrote about?" Everyone looked at Betty.  
Amanda's eyes grew big, "You wrote about your secret affair with Daniel? Ooh, kinky, Betty!"  
Betty gave her sister an evil glare, but the Mai tais and massage combination had loosened her up to the point where she 'spilled', and told the whole group, "Oh, my God! I'll say she wrote about it. It was the hottest stuff I ever heard. I was ready to kill poor Daniel, thinking he had corrupted my little sister with his crazy sex stuff, until he told me they loved each other and it wasn't just him, getting his rocks off from his shy, innocent little assistant!  
But this one...whoa, I don't know why you act all meek and stuff, Betty. When you've got a dirtier mind than me!"  
Betty was furious with her sister for 'ratting her out'. SHUT UP, Hilda! God, you have the BIGGEST mouth on the planet. I'm sure everyone in New York now knows about my stupid stories."  
"Well, hey, I'm sure you didn't think of all that stuff on your own, Betty. Daniel had to come up with some of it. You were just writing what you guys did. But, WOW! I was trying to remember some of it, though, so I could try it with Bobby. Can I see your file again?"  
Betty's face turned bright crimson as everyone looked at her, curiously. Marc looked puzzled, and Justin, the only sober one of the bunch, shook his head, as he sat on a lounge chair, sketching out ideas for his mother's wedding while he enjoyed the sun. "Wait, I don't really understand. AB, you really had a secret affair with Daniel the WHOLE time you were with Matt? That doesn't sound like you."  
Betty sighed, and got up to leave, "It doesn't sound like me because it WASN'T me! None of that stuff you read ever really happened, okay, Hilda? Are you happy? Daniel and I never were together before he came here and rescued me. I made all of it up, because...well, because I guess I had a crush on him or whatever. But, he didn't know about it and we never really did any of those things before this week!" She started to storm off, but Hilda shook Marc, "Go, make sure she's okay! Don't let her just go off by herself, please!"  
Marc shook his head, but got up from the male masseuse, and excused himself, "I'll be back, sailor. Keep your motor running. Good tip coming when I get back, I promise!" He went after Betty and found her in the lagoon.  
She gave him a dirty look, "What do YOU want, Marc? You can make fun of me, now. There was no affair, just me, the love sick little assistant writing about her sexy boss, okay? Are you happy? Daniel was just being sweet, trying to cover for the stories with Hilda when she found them, not wanting to embarrass me."  
Marc shrugged, "Hey, it's fine. I knew nothing was going on between you two before. Not when you dressed like a bag lady. Daniel has better taste than that!  
Lucky for you, you were around me enough and got some training at Mode on how to glam it up a bit so the man would notice you. You have decent lady assets, you just always confused the eyes by making them bleed with all those crazy colors and patterns before, chi mi-changa."  
She looked at him, seeming surprised, "You mean, you're not going to make fun of me?"  
He shrugged, "I got a free vaca in paradise, where all the men are super hunky. I'll give you a free pass on this. Besides, I am here, Betty. I know we've had our uh...differences, but I'll admit. I was mildly concerned about you."  
Justin came up, "Mildly concerned? AB, he was driving me crazy on the plane. He got so drunk and was almost crying, he was so worried about you! Don't let him fool you. He loves you."  
Marc rolled his eyes, looking embarrassed at first, then narrowed his eyes at Justin, pointing a finger at him, "I won't forget this, young paduan! See if I let you help me with the new fall line now. You don't..." Betty hugged him tightly and whispered, "I love you, too, Marc. Thanks for coming here to help find me!"  
He 'allowed' her to hug him for a second, and patted her hand, then 'shooed' her off him, "Well, I SUPPOSE I'd miss you. Who would Mandy and I make fun of! You're usually such an easy target, furry one!"  
They all walked back to the tent, to hear Amanda reading from her phone, talking high, as if she were imitating Betty's voice, "The minute I laid eyes on D, I knew he was going to make me scream his name and I determined right then and there, I would make him yell mine over and over, too. I saw the way he moved, the way he had this amazing ability to look like a little boy when it suited him, and like the sexiest man I'd ever come into contact with at the same time.  
There was just something about his voice that made me tremble inside, made me almost feel like I would lose it, hearing his raspy, low grumble when he spoke that I felt deep inside and when he turned towards me, aiming those incredible cerulean eyes at me like weapons of my destruction, smiling and talking to me in that voice of his, I swear, I shook like no man has ever made me shake before. I wanted to jump him right there and then.  
But I waited. Because he was a complete jack ass after that Phillipe showed up. In fact, the first week, he treated me like his slave, and NOT in a good, sexy way! He was terrible to me. He was mean, demanding, cruel. It was like a mean joke that someone so sexy, so amazing, and that I was so in love with was being just as bad as everyone at school had always been to me.  
Then, a miracle happened. He came knocking on my door, in Queens, and apologized for being such a jerk. He was real, he was tender. He made me fall in love with him, all over again. We built a friendship, based on trust, and understanding. We became really close. We could talk about anything. I never had that with a man before.  
I could swear, sometimes, when he looked out at me, through the little bubble of a window that separated us, he was checking me out. I wasn't dressing sexy at all then, but I still caught him checking out my ass when he thought I didn't notice. He'd look at me a certain way, as if he was trying to picture what I'd look like, without my unique wardrobe perhaps?  
And finally, after I rescued him from an almost disastrous press nightmare the night I had set him up with Giselle to help him 'get back on the horse' after that bee with an itch, Sofia dumped him on television, we had the most amazing night of my life. We ate at the fancy French restaurant, with the paparazzi taking our picture, ME with D? It was so exciting! Being with him, like we were on a real date! It was amazing. Then, it got much better!  
He took me to get pizza when I confessed I didn't care for the snails and we sang karaoke together. We crashed a wedding. He kept grabbing my hand, and we ran out, just before they caught us. We shared wine and laughed and ended up on the Brooklyn Bridge, talking and sharing really sweet, private things about our lives.  
He, about his brother, Alex who had died and he told me I was 'better than any model' and I should call him any time, day or night, when I came back to the bridge and he'd meet me here. So, one night, after I had had a few too many drinks with my friend, C, I put him to the test. I called him and sure enough, he came. Twice, in fact."  
Amanda's eyebrows raised, looking at Betty, somewhat admiringly, "Ooh, sexy, 'B'! So...this is what you were doing all those times in the ladies? I always just thought you were erasing the nasty stuff I wrote on the stalls! Little did I know you were writing about doing the nasty stuff with Daniel all along! You should have told me. I could give you a few ideas."  
"I don't know, Amanda. I think she could actually give you a few ideas!" Hilda was pointing out a few passages to Amanda, who's eyes shot up, as she smiled and nodded, "Kudos, B! So, wait, now, you guys are doing this stuff, for REAL? Nice going!" She pointed to another section to Hilda, "Oh, yeah, I'm adding that one to MY lineup!"  
Betty grabbed the phone away from her, "How did you get this file?" Amanda pointed to Hilda. "I talked her into attaching it to an email to me so I could check it out."  
Betty looked at the waiter coming around with drinks, "Excuse me, could I have one of the Pina coladas in a coconut, please?"  
She figured, since her sister seemed to be 'spilling the beans' about her stories, she might as well get drunk enough not to care so much at this point. Amanda shook her head, "Yeah, well, make sure you stay here with us, B. That's what happened before, you drank one of those things and then just disappeared, remember?"  
"Not really. I never did get my memory of that night back. They say that's what those drugs do. You lose that time and you never get it back." She said, somewhat sadly.  
"I say, it's a good thing you don't remember, Betty. Do you really WANT to remember being kidnapped? Or how scared you must have been, not knowing what they were going to do with you? I say it's a blessing you DON'T remember!" She looked close to tears.  
"Yes, but I might remember something that would help with the case, too. I have little flashes of memory, mostly when Marty took care of me, because that was when he wasn't making me take those drugs, so I was awake. He fed me, and gave me water and talked to me like I was a human being. He apologized and said he was going to try and figure out a way to get me back home, safely."  
Hilda and Amanda felt badly for teasing Betty about her writing, suddenly remembering how much they had missed her and been concerned for her welfare. "I'm sorry, Betty. I didn't mean to make fun of you. I really think it's great that you and 'D' finally got together. He may not have been sleeping with you all this time, but he's definitely been falling for you, little by little. The minute he heard you were missing, he totally lost it.  
It was so obvious he was nuts about you. He hardly slept. He was determined he was going to find you. Tyler said he caught the guy talking to himself, like he was talking to you. Oh, that must have been when he thought he could see you!" She suddenly clicked.  
As they all finished their massages and facials, Betty still had Amanda's phone. While everyone else talked about Hilda's wedding, she found herself reading on, from where Amanda had stopped.  
I'm sure many people will think I'm a virgin, because I have braces and wear glasses, but that's not true. Sorry to say this, but ugly people have sex, too. Besides, as D is fond of telling me, I'm not ugly, just 'style challenged'. But when we're together, none of that seems to matter.  
He says I make him forget all of the pressure he has to be perfect, like his brother and that with me, he can be himself. He doesn't have to act a certain way. He can talk to me and tell me what he really feels.  
We talk about anything and everything. Then, he looks at me, and tells me to 'come here, B' I want to watch you, or he'll tell me I look good enough to eat or my skin is like ice cream, or all this sexy stuff he wants to do to me.  
He's always so tender and just seems to want to please me and watch me writhe and scream with pleasure, that I've started plotting how I'm going to repay him. I see how hard his father's unfair expectations weigh down on him, and how hard he tries to outmaneuver Wilhelmina.  
He's trying so much to be the man nobody but me expects him to be! He smiles and tries to hide it from me, but I can see him struggling to try and measure up, but always feeling like he's not good enough.  
So, one day, I came into his office after work and closed his curtains I got for his naps and well...sex. I locked the door and he looked up at me, curiously.  
"What's on your mind, B?"his voice made me tremble with anticipation. We had never actually done anything more than Bill and Monica stuff before. But, now...I wanted to see what all of Manhattan was always bragging about.  
So, I walked up to him, and acting like I knew what I was doing, I sat on his desk, and began taking off his tie, slowly, smiling at him. He didn't try and stop me, he just relaxed, and let me do whatever to him, which is what I wanted.  
He raised his eyebrows as I carefully unbuttoned his shirt, caressing his fantastic chest and leaned forward from his desk to kiss his chest. He closed his eyes, then surprised me, but pulling down my panties and reaching up to put his hands on me, as he pulled me closer and we shared the most intense kiss I know either of us had ever experienced before.  
His hot tongue and mine dueling for dominance, while he kneaded my ass, and then I took him in..."  
"Whatcha reading, sweetie?" Daniel stood over her, looking all kinds of cute in his designer sunglasses, and Betty threw Amanda's phone back over to her, grabbing Daniel's hand, and whispered, "Come on, I need you, now!"  
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Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Afternoon Delight-Aloha Style  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 32: Afternoon Delight-Aloha Style  
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty  
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"Hey, Betty, slow down. What's...going...on with you?"  
She didn't answer, but kept kissing him feverishly, not even allowing him to get in a word. Daniel grinned as she grabbed him from the courtyard, practically running to get him back to their room.  
The moment they got to the elevator, she rather forcefully pushed him inside. Once the doors had shut, she began unbuttoning his shirt, kissing and caressing his chest and stomach. He pulled her to him and put one hand behind her head and the other around her back, deepening the kiss she had started giving him.  
He chuckled in surprise as she backed him up against the wall, and slid her hands up to his shoulders, running her hands along his muscles there, before pushing his shirt off of him. He didn't know where all this was coming from, but he definitely wasn't complaining.  
He moaned as she stroked his stomach sensually and planted kisses along his chest. Seeing him shirtless seemed to just spur her on more, and she started to unbuckle his pants. He raised an eyebrow, wondering how far she intended on going here, just as the doors opened for a group of nuns to get on at their floor.  
Betty looked embarrassed, removing her hand from his belt and quickly handing Daniel his shirt to put on. He laughed slightly, putting it back on and nodding, "Aloha, ladies. God bless." They murmured a muffled reply and got on the elevator as he and Betty walked to their room.  
Daniel took out the key card and slid it in, leaning against the door frame, smiling. "So...do you want to tell me why the sudden intensity? Not that I minded. I'm sure I gave those four nuns something to fantasize about."  
"Daniel! That's not funny. I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe I just did that."  
"It's fine, Betty. I don't really think you're going to hell because you got all hot and bothered with your boyfriend in an elevator. But, what's up? I mean, besides me, now. Wow, you were...all over me, girl. What gives? Did your massage get you turned on? Don't tell me you had some hot guy rubbing oil all over you? Or...were you ladies talking about sex all day today while we men were gone, and that got you going?"  
She shook her head, "No, I...well, actually I got ratted out by my big mouthed sister. So, everyone knows now that nothing really ever happened between us and that I'm a total pervert, writing all that stuff about you.  
Hilda got a little drunk and all loose from her massage and showed some of my stories to Amanda. So, now Marc knows, and even Justin. I mean, Justin and Marc didn't actually read anything. But Amanda did, so she'll show Marc! And now, Tyler's going to know. Daniel...I can't face them."  
He pulled her to him, "Betty, I don't get it. You didn't mind that they thought we actually had an affair while you and Matt and you and Henry were together, but now you're embarrassed ..."  
"I didn't write anything about you and I doing stuff when I was with Henry or Matt. Didn't you read that far, yet? I thought you skipped ahead? I may have been obsessed with you, but I thought nothing was ever going to come of it, so I did try and have a normal life, Daniel. I tried to not think about you while I was with Henry and Matt."'  
"Oh. I didn't know. We were doing stuff in real life by the time I got that far, so, I never got to read past the first few month's worth. Do you think Matt assumed the same thing? Is that why he was so pissed at me that he hit me and why he took you like that and yelled at you? He thought you were cheating on him with me?"  
She nodded, "I'm sure he must have at first. That's why he was so hurt and angry. I told him that I only wrote the things and he believed me, but then he said if I wrote that kind of thing about you, it must have meant I really was in love with you all along, and...I couldn't really argue with him about that.  
Even though I stopped writing about us when I was with Henry or Matt, I never stopped thinking about you. I mean, it was kind of hard not to when I worked for you."  
"So, did you write anything since Matt's been in Africa? Do you think he read that?"  
She nodded, "He must have. He never contacted me from Africa, though. He didn't even email me since he left. So, I didn't know he was still in love with me. I assumed he had moved on, too."  
"You don't have anything to feel guilty about, Betty. Writing was just your way of dealing with your feelings about me when you thought we weren't right for each other.  
I was the stupid one for not picking up on how you felt sooner. I should have sensed how you felt. I should have talked to you. I can't believe it took me almost losing you before I realized my own feelings for you, either."  
He kissed her forehead and nodded, putting his chin on top of her head and wrapping his arms around her.  
She sighed, "I kept thinking that if I wrote it down, it would get you out of my system, and somehow purge those feelings. But, obviously, that didn't work too well. I mean, today, I just started reading what I wrote after our first night on the bridge, and that's why I was so...you know when you came back just now."  
"Turned on? Yeah, it turned me on, too, Betty."  
She looked into his eyes, unsure of herself suddenly, "Are you still going to feel the same way when we get back to New York, Daniel?"  
He held his hands around her waist, kissing her lips, "Of course. Why wouldn't I? Betty...you can't think I want things to go back to the way they were before when we leave here! I told you before, I love you. Do you think I'm only in love with you in Hawaii or something? That it's just the 'aloha spirit' making me feel this way? Betty, I love you now and forever, babe. Here and back on the mainland. You're stuck with me from now on."  
Her eyes were glossy. "Really? I feel the same way, Daniel. I love you so much. I swore, sometimes when I was tied up and sort of out of it when they had me on those drugs, I felt like we were talking, and teasing, and flirting. I could almost feel you, kissing me, and I felt like we were talking every night."  
He smiled, "We were. Kind of...I mean, honestly, I think having my little fantasies was the only thing that kept me from losing my mind, like..."  
"Like you did with Molly? That was one of the 'dreams' I had, was when we talked about that. We were at some house and I said Bobby and Hilda were below us and were 'busy' and we sort of argued because I didn't realize Marty was from Africa and you said I should have known. You said you wanted 'the real Betty'. Then, we ended up...sort of fooling around."  
His eyes widened, as he looked shocked, but pleased, "Betty, that's so weird! I swear, that's one of the 'hallucinations' I had, back at the house we stayed at in Nanakuli. We talked about all those things you just said, and ended up getting pretty hot and heavy and just when things really were getting going, the damn..."  
"Phone rang? And it was Hekili, calling for his sister, Keilani?"  
"YES! Oh, wow, that is really intense, Betty. So, you do remember my hallucinations with you? That's...that's crazy! But, kind of cool. It's sort of like you really were with me, at least in spirit."  
She nodded, in disbelief, trying to make sense of it all.  
"So, how did things go with the 'manly men' today, Daniel?" she teased.  
He smiled, leaning back on the sofa, putting his arm out for her to 'snuggle' into it. She rested her head against him, ready to hear about his exploits with the guys earlier.  
"Well, first we went to talk to Captain Sukki. He said he's convinced that this George Markus is a supplier on the west coast, maybe California or something."  
"But, why would a drug supplier in California want to have me kidnapped...or killed?"  
"Actually, the captain agreed with us that your story may have accidentally touched a nerve. Not drug trafficking , though. I mean, drugs are definitely involved, too. But thats not the main 'product' we're talking about here."  
"You mean...the girls? Tourists getting grabbed and given that stuff so they'll do things they would ordinarily never agree to?" Her eyes widened in shock.  
He nodded, "Exactly! In fact, he gave us a name back at the Disney resort. He said that they've been checking into the possibility of Tony Martin planting some of his people on their cruises to romance the girls, and slip them the same 'zombie' drug they slipped you in order to take you.  
Anyway, we headed down to that resort owned by Disney, the KoOlina place, to talk to some of the managers there to see if they've had any of of their passengers from their cruises turn up missing lately.  
But they said the guy Captain Sukki told us about didn't work there anymore. They didn't know where he was, he just didn't show up for work. The Disney PR guy was no help at all. He just gave us the same standard line of bull they always spin, everything is all happy, smiley, freakin' 'happiest place on earth' crap.  
But, after we left his office, and were out at the lagoon, having a drink, sitting at a table, some hot girl comes up to us, offering us...well, you know. She seemed kind of out of it. She must have thought we were tourists, and when Tyler turned her down..."  
Betty smiled, "She propositioned Tyler?" She shrugged, "I guess he is the youngest of your little 'Hawaii Five-O' hot guy group."  
Daniel furrowed his brows, "I'm going to ignore that comment, Betty, since I KNOW you are still on Team Daniel, deep down and you said that just to piss me off."  
She laughed, "Sorry, I was just teasing, Daniel. Finish your story, please. I just wish I could have been a fly on the wall and seen how you three acted, having some girl come up to you and try to lure Tyler away for some island nookie."  
Her eyes widened, "OH, do you think she was drugged with that stuff they gave me to come with them and told to try and get tourists to come with her so they would rob them?"  
"Bingo. Yeah, we signaled silently, and got Tyler to say he had changed his mind and was interested, but did she have some friends for his buddies. She left for about twenty minutes and came back with two other uh...nice-looking girls in bikinis."  
Betty raised her eyebrow, "I see. So, while I was here, getting all hot and bothered, reading my own erotica about us, I see you were certainly off having a good time, Daniel!"  
He rolled his eyes, "Betty, come on. We were all together and we didn't do anything. Besides, if I did actually 'hook up' with some random woman I met, do you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to do it in front of Bobby and Tyler? And then tell you about it? I know you think I'm just a pretty face, but just how stupid do you think I am? Never mind. I don't think I want you to answer that!" He seemed hurt and somewhat annoyed in her distrust.  
"Daniel, stop. I was only jealous. I know nothing happened. I trust you. I just don't trust other women around you. I mean, I of all people know what you do to women. They lose all control around you. Just like I do."  
He seemed to be almost pouting at first, but she smiled seductively and kissed him, pulling him with her to sit on the lanai, then sat on his lap, kissing his cheek, and working her way to his ear and neck, running her hands through his hair. He put his hands around her waist, holding her in place. She whispered, "How can I turn that frown upside down? D-a-n-i-e-l, I l-o-v-e you" She softly 'sang' to the tune of the 'mickey mouse' song.  
He chuckled, "Cute, Betty. I l-o-v-e you, too, crazy girl. Do you want to fool around, since you got yourself all worked up, reading your own writing?" He returned her kisses, moving her hair aside to stroke her shoulder and neck, and nuzzle her collarbone.  
She moaned in his ear, spurring him on. He closed his eyes, deepening their kiss, "I'll...uh tell you what happened later. Right now, I think I'm going to take us to the REAL happiest place on earth."  
She giggled, as he picked her up and carried her to the bed, "Where's that? The bedroom of our hotel?"  
He smiled, nodding and raising an eyebrow, "Right now it is. But, basically it's anyplace where we're together, Betty."  
________________________________________  
Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Hawaii Five O-Ala Mode  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 33: Hawaii Five-O/A La Mode  
The eight New Yorkers gathered at Duke's for a late lunch, before heading out on their 'mission' for the evening.  
Tyler had received another text from the girl who had come up to him earlier at the Disney resort. The three men had lost their nerve, not quite knowing what to do when she brought back her 'friends' for Daniel and Bobby initially.  
So, he had said that he had an emergency back at his hotel in Waikiki he had to deal with first. Of course, the 'emergency' was telling his girlfriend and the police about it.  
They had already called Captain Sukki and told him about the incident and now, all the men had been 'wired' and the police would be following them, to see if this little sting would lead them to whoever had found out about Victoria Hartley's vendetta against Betty and decided to take advantage of it to get rid of her in order to silence her story (the police's theory once they were finally convinced Victoria was not homicidal).  
Captain Sukki's money was on someone connected with Tony Martin, not the man himself, though. He seldom got his own hands dirty in such affairs, to avoid prosecution. He merely nodded to one of his 'staff' to take care of his business interests if they wanted to stay on his payroll and in his good graces.  
The women were not happy to have their fiancées or boyfriends used to lure women who were likely being drugged to do the bidding of some Hawaiian drug and human trafficking kingpin. They all kissed each other, as if the men were going to war (and also made sure to remind them who they belonged to).  
"We'll be fine, ladies. Nothing's going to actually happen with these women. We're going to let them lead us to where the guy's got his business and let the police grab some people and get one of them to talk and give up Martin." Bobby sounded as if he were trying to re-assure himself as much as Hilda, Amanda, and Betty.  
Daniel nodded, trying to take heart from Bobby's words, "Right. Once Sukki has some of Martin's guys in custody, he'll get something on them; offer them a bribe or immunity if they talk, maybe."  
Betty wasn't convinced, "How many CSI shows have you watched lately, Daniel? What if Martin has an alibi? They always have these high-powered, slick lawyers to keep them untouchable. He's been doing this for almost ten years, now. What makes us think we can change that? I don't like you being human bait!"  
He hugged her, wrapping his arms around her back, and squeezing her tightly. "I'm going to be fine, Betty. I'm not drugged. Those women are, though, probably. They seemed okay, but…if they are getting forced to do this stuff against their will, they're the real victims here, like Pastor Cardine's sister. We have to do this, for her, so no more innocent girls get sucked into this nightmare. This is what you wrote about, honey. This is WHY you wrote about it. We have to try and do something to stop it, don't we?"  
She sighed, tears in her eyes. It was one thing to say you wanted to change an injustice, but quite another to put the man you love in danger in order to try and correct that injustice,  
"Yes, but…we just realized that we love each other. I can't lose you now, Daniel. Be careful, please?" she buried her face in his chest, and he kissed the top of her head.  
Marc took Amanda from Tyler after they had said their goodbyes. She waved tearfully to Tyler, "Don't forget who you came for, Tyler! And it wasn't some little drugged out slut! It was this slut!" She quickly 'flashed' him, making him grin and blow her a kiss.  
Hilda said to Bobby, "If the skank who gloms onto you touches your business, I swear to you, Bobby, I'll drop her, I don't care if the woman's drugged or not!  
You are mine! Nobody touches Bobby Talercio but me and lives to tell about it." He knew her well enough to know she was choosing anger over tears, but she was scared, too.  
He hugged her, and whispered, "You think after being with you, I'm going to want to be with anything less than the best, baby? We're getting married next week, remember?" He kissed her passionately, making her smile, somewhat breathlessly as she went to stand by a grinning Justin.  
The men got into a cab, waving to their girls and set off to the address the girl had texted Tyler, on the windward side of the island. As soon as they left, and their discreet police tail followed, the girls all looked at one another. Marc shook his head, as if reading their minds, "I'm already on it, ladies. I called a cab earlier and told them as soon as that Chevy police car left, pull up and get us. Here we are."  
Amanda hugged him around the waist, looking at him proudly, "I love you, Marc! I swear, honey, if you weren't gay…"  
He shook his head, "You wouldn't know what to do with all of this, Mandy! I'm just that freaking fabulous!" He grinned as they all climbed in the waiting cab.  
The men, meanwhile, were trying to stay focused and positive about what they were going to do. "Stick together, no matter what." Bobby re-iterated for the third time.  
Tyler made a face, "Well, yeah, but, I mean, what if…you know, they start doing stuff to us? No offense, Bobby, but I don't know you THAT well yet."  
Daniel laughed, "Well, I may be your half-brother, but I'm not ready to get all that familiar with you, either, Tyler! I don't know what you think is going to happen, but we're the men, these women can't MAKE us do anything against our will.  
Besides, it's not going to come to that. The police just have to hear enough to make the arrest and we'll stand back and let them come do their job. Nobody's dropping their pants here tonight."  
Tyler looked flustered, "I didn't say I wanted to do that, Daniel. Come on. You know I love Mandy. She's amazing."  
"Yeah, okay. Like I said, it's not going to come to that, anyway. Not if we all stick to the plan. Stay together, keep things light and keep them talking as much as possible.  
Maybe see what we can find out. The cops can hear them, so whatever we can get them to spill about Martin or maybe one of them knows who Markus is or at least where he is for sure."  
After coming out of the tunnel they all involuntarily widened their eyes at the gorgeous Kaneohe Bay to their left. "Wow!"  
"That's sure a lot better than the view coming out of the Holland Tunnel, huh?" Bobby joked and the other two men just nodded, speechless at the sight below.  
Daniel looked nervous, "So, what should we talk to them about? You know, to keep things uh…platonic, I guess you'd say. I'm used to going the other way. I'm not all that familiar with chatting up women to NOT get in their pants."  
Bobby shrugged, "Me, either. You got anything, Tyler? Hey, why don't you keep everybody entertained talking about your cowboy stuff?"  
"Cowboy stuff?" Tyler rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure, I could do rope tricks and twirl my gun around. Maybe say aw shucks and howdy pardner. That should 'entertain' everybody for a while, I guess."  
Daniel stifled a laugh, "Sounds great, South Dakota Kid!"  
Bobby shrugged, "What? What's wrong with that? Girls like that kind of thing, don't they?"  
"Yeah, well, I suppose you could talk about how you like to grab big Hawaiian guys by the throat and be mister tough New York guy." Tyler said, sarcastically, clearly annoyed with Bobby making fun of him.  
"Well, I could always demonstrate on tall guys from South Dakota." Bobby gave him a look, furrowing his eyebrows.  
Daniel played 'peacemaker' to the two, "Don't worry. You two do what you both do best; play the strong, silent type. I can talk to the ladies, keep them entertained. It's sort of my strong point."  
The two both looked at him, laughing. Bobby pointed, "Sure, you can give them fashion tips, right, Daniel? Isn't that your 'strong point'?"  
Tyler suddenly remembered what Amanda had told him this afternoon, "Say, what's this I hear that you and Betty weren't really together before you came here after all? Now, Amanda told me, Betty wrote a bunch of really hot stories about you two, but you really weren't having an affair back in New York? I'm confused. First, you said you weren't, then you were; now you weren't again? Which is it?"  
"No kidding! Hilda was sort of tipsy when we got back this afternoon, but she said Betty was mad at her for 'spilling the beans' that she had written some stories about you two, but then Betty told everyone she made it all up? That nothing ever happened between you and her until you came here. What gives?"  
Daniel sighed, not really wanting to 'get into this' with them. He shook his head and put one arm up on the back seat, leaning back, "Look, I really don't like to talk about this, okay? It's between me and Betty, what we did or didn't do. I will say nothing happened with us when she was with Henry or Matt. She never cheated on either of them, okay?  
As far as the rest of it, let's just say; she's a really talented writer and we're having lots of fun now uh…re-living her stories. I hope that answers your questions, cause that's all you're getting out of me. I don't kiss and tell. I'm a gentleman."  
They both laughed, and Daniel grinned, "Okay, well, maybe I'm not, but I am where Betty's concerned."  
"Whatever, Daniel. From what Hilda was saying, chipmunk is uh, quite the sex writer. She was telling me about some of the stuff she thought would be fun to try."  
"Please, spare me the details, Bobby. I'm happy for you and Hilda, glad you're getting married and all, but if you decide to use any of Betty's sex ideas, I don't want to know about it. Knock yourself out, man!"  
"Hey, you two, if you're done talking about your sex life, we're here." Tyler nodded towards the park where the girls were supposed to be meeting them.  
When the three got out of the cab, they looked around, and saw the young woman who had first approached Tyler; a red-head, with long, wavy tresses and a very curvy shape.  
She was rather short, especially as she came up to Tyler. She smiled, "Hello, there, stranger. Did you get your little emergency taken care of? What happened? I thought we were hitting if off so well."  
Tyler smiled, taking her hand, "We were, Melissa. I'm sorry. Like I said, I just had to go see about my cousin. She's getting married this weekend and was having a huge conniption fit over her uh… bridesmaid's dresses. She threatened to call off the wedding over it.  
It's crazy how insane some women get over such little details. I don't get it, personally. Who cares if they all match or not exactly, right?"  
She laughed, "Well, I'd want mine to match, too. What's a 'conniption', anyway? That sounds so cute. You're such a cutie with your accent and those eyes!"  
Daniel looked around, "Yeah, he's got really sexy eyes, doesn't he? Say, Melissa, where are your friends? They are coming, too, aren't they? Don't tell me you're going to 'entertain' all three of us by yourself." He smiled flirtatiously.  
She looked around, "No, they're coming soon. I told them where we were going to meet you three."  
"You told them we were going to meet here at four-thirty and that…the price was five hundred dollars, right?" Bobby asked, talking a little loudly.  
She just nodded. Daniel rolled his eyes, giving Bobby a look. He tried, "So, does Amber charge extra for uh…any special services? Like, how much does she charge for say, a lap dance? Or is that included when we have sex?" He felt weird saying that, but wanted to make sure the police got what they needed.  
Melissa looked at him rather strangely, but nodded again, and Daniel sighed at first, but then she added, "Yes, Daniel. Five hundred is the basic rate Amber charges for straight sex, but if you want a lap dance or anything 'extra', she usually charges by the hour."  
His eyes widened and he looked at Tyler and Bobby as if to say, Now what? Bobby got inspired and called the two men to him, excusing them, "Melissa, give us just a second here, darling, we need to pool our money here, I think. Meanwhile, would you mind texting your friends again? I think my guys here are getting a little antsy, if you know what I mean!"  
He smiled, flashing his dimples. She said,"Of course"  
Once they were huddled, Daniel said, "Okay, so I'm not exactly clear, here, is what she just said enough for Sukki to prosecute or not? We talked specific services and prices. Of course, once the other two girls get here, we've got to try and get them to take us to their 'office'."  
"How did the Captain say we should do that again? Pretend to have been robbed or something and accuse the girls? But, don't they usually wait to ask for the money until after services are rendered?" Bobby asked.  
Daniel gave him a dirty look, "What the hell are you asking me for? I've never done this before. Do I look like I have to pay for it?"  
Betty was getting nervous. She leaned over to Marc, "I think the police car lost them. Do you think you could text Daniel, Marc? You could pretend to make it work-related. I just need to know he's okay."  
________________________________________  
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Curly and Moe to the Rescue  
________________________________________  
Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 34: "Curly and Moe to the Rescue"  
Betty silently pointed to Marc the approaching two extremely large Hawaiian men coming towards them.  
"OMG! Betty, what should we do now? I sent your lover boy the text several minutes ago. I don't know if we're not getting reception because of the mountains or what, but he doesn't seem to be answering. Hopefully, that girl didn't…"  
She put up her hand giving him a dirty look, "Don't finish that sentence, Marc. Hello, gentlemen! Aloha! What can we do for you? What brings you two out for a stroll this evening?"  
"You duh wahine name Betty, eh?"  
"Yeh-yeh-yeh! Dis huh, remembuh? Tony say she got long, dark hair and she short and…" the larger of the two men interrupted,  
"Aznuts? Brah, duh island choke wif wahine's what got long, dark hair and short, brah! Use yo head! She got ID, check what it say. She one Betty Suarez."  
Betty pulled her bag towards her and shook her head, "It's me. I'm Betty Suarez. Look, he has nothing to do with this. I don't even know him. He's just some tourist I asked directions from, so you can let him go."  
"Oh, no you don't, woman! You're not going to come out being the big hero, here and get me killed by Daniel or Hilda. I'm Betty Suarez! Take me. In fact, I'll go willingly. Are there more like you two?"  
Betty rolled her eyes, while the two men looked at each other, somewhat confused by Marc's outburst. The one grabbed her purse and found her wallet, showing it to his friend, "Yeah, dis huh. Come on, you both comin wif us. We got yo boyfriend's, already. Well, both of yo boyfriends. Dis way."  
Marc leaned towards Betty, whispering, "So, which one do you think they have me matched up with? Tyler or Bobby? Hmmm…tough choice. Tyler's my bestie's guy so, I really shouldn't even look at him."  
"Marc, this is NO time for your stupid jokes! Don't you understand, they must have found out the guys had wires and taken them somewhere. Now, they want us, too! The police tail disappeared. I don't know what happened to them."  
The taller man overheard Betty, "Oh, five-oh got theirs, sistuh. No worries. They gonna be lookin for the pieces in Pearl Harbor for a while." He had a somewhat sinister smile.  
Betty's eyes widened, "Oh, my God, you blew up the police car? How?"  
"Uh, I thought you was suppose to be one smart wahine? Wif explosives, sistuh. What you tink? We foolin around here? You mess wif Tony's supply. Dat no joke. He no like when stupid hoale bitch's come hea to his island and mess stuff up for him. You in big trouble, sistuh. Got away one time. Not gonna happen again, though.  
All dese guys what come snoopin around tryin to help you get your 'story' oughtta stay out of it, too. That rich, crazy haole woman what try to get you kidnap by local guy give Tony his alibi. But now, she talk too much."  
"Who is George Markus? Is he associated with Disney? With the cruise ship? How does he fit in to all this? Where are you taking us? To Martin?"  
He shook his head, "You ask too many questions."  
"Really, Betty! Shut up, will you? Who cares about your damn story? Let's just call this a huge misunderstanding and we'll gladly all go back to New York and leave you alone to do whatever you were doing before this crazy woman stuck her big, giant nose where it doesn't belong! We promise, right, Betty?" Marc was smiling pathetically, trying to flutter his eyelashes flirtatiously at the shorter man, who seemed unimpressed with the attempt.  
"Too late for that! Shut up, and get in duh back."  
"Oh, God! I'm going to die!" Marc shook his head as they shoved them onto the back of a large truck and roughly tied their hands with rope to the flatbed."  
Betty shook her head, and muttered under her breath, "Marc, shut up, will you? He didn't tie me as tight as I let on. I can get loose, okay? As soon as we get to a field or grassy area, we'll jump out of the truck and make a run for it."  
He looked at her like she was insane. "You can't be serious! You are going to jump out of a moving vehicle? We'll be killed!"  
She shrugged, as the men both got into the cab. "Maybe. But if we don't at least try to get away from these two, they will definitely kill us anyway, Marc. Don't you at least want to try?"  
He took a deep breath, "I really loathe you right now, Suarez! I take back every nice thing I ever said about you."  
"Luckily, there really weren't all that many; were there, Marc?" she shook her head, giving him a half-smile.  
"Well, not that you know of, anyway. And I'm certainly not going to tell you about them, now that you're about to get me killed! And I came all the way here to rescue you! I hate you, Betty!"  
"I love you, too, Marc." She busied herself using her teeth to pull on the knot where she had deliberately pulled her wrists apart while their captors had been tying them.  
After several minutes of concentrated effort, she got them off and glanced nervously towards the back of the cab, to make sure it went unnoticed. She kept her hands out of sight of the back window and acted as if she were leaning against Marc for comfort, while she undid his knot. "Ooh, that tickles, Betty." He giggled slightly.  
"Marc, stop wiggling. You're such a girl!"  
"Well, one of us has to be. Who ARE you, anyway? I swear, everything is upside down on this island. Mandy and Daniel are wearing flip flops and shorts, and he's wearing Hawaiian shirts for Prada's sake! You think you're Woodward and Bernstein with a side of Betty Bourne.  
And Tyler is some Luau cowboy, toting a gun and saying 'Yee haw, pardner! Ride em cowboy! I even saw your nephew, my protégé wearing shorts today! What is the world coming to, with all this 'hang loose' world gone upside down, anyway? I swear, if the men weren't so hot here, I would never even consider staying for Hilda's wedding! That is, provided we don't DIE first, today! Are you done, yet?"  
"Sorry it's taking me so long. You have such tiny wrists! These knots are almost impossible to…there, finally! Come on! Look, we must be headed back to Hawaii Kai. This looks like the Manoa area, I think. See that hill there? Let's set these bags up to sort of look like us, and as soon as we get over that hill, we'll jump off and roll down the hill.  
There are some houses and bushes and the trail behind the houses goes to Manoa Falls. I went up it with some friends of Paster Cardines to talk privately."  
"YOU exercised willingly? Wow, Betty. Your time here has made you a completely different person from New York. So, what REALLY happened with you and your lovah? I know you said…"  
"MARC! Focus! We don't have time to gossip. Get ready, and set up the bags. Okay, now, ready?"  
"NO!"  
"Yes you are, get set, one, two, three, JUMP! NOW, Marc, Now!" She pulled him off the truck with her and they fell off, then rolled down a very large hill, turning faster and faster, till they stopped at the bottom.  
Once they finally stopped rolling, they lie on the ground, trying to catch their breath. Betty got up, and pulled Marc up, who was fussing with a ripped button on his shirt. "Being an action hero is so hard on the wardrobe!" He started to giggle but Betty shot him a warning glance,  
"What, Marc? Ha, ha, very funny! I got it, you accidentally said 'hard on' and not in a sexual way. That's hilarious. But this is serious, lucky for me I have my cell phone."  
"I thought they kept your purse?"  
"They did. It's not in there." She fished her phone out of her cleavage, prompting Marc to make a face, "Eww! That's disgusting, Betty! Remind me to never use your phone."  
"Jealous?"  
"A little. Shut up. Who are you calling? The police?"  
She nodded, "Yes, and then I'm going to try and text Daniel, Bobby or Tyler. Or Hilda, anybody and tell them where we are."  
Marc looked around, "I'm glad you know where we are. It looks like some jungle to me!"  
"It's the back of Manoa Falls. You hike up there; see the entrance to the trail?"  
"Why would they bring Daniel and the others here?"  
She shrugged, "I don't know. I know there's a few little deserted areas inside the entrance to the trail that could be where Martin's guys meet or something, I guess. I just know I want to hear Daniel's voice. Hello, is Captain Sukki there?"  
"Yes. I'll hold." After a few minutes, she hurriedly told the captain all that had happened and where they were. She was saddened to hear that the man who had grabbed them had been telling the truth, the police car that had been assigned to follow the men had been sabotaged and they were frantically trying to deal with that situation, as well as send another car out to pick up the signal of the three men where it had been lost.  
Suddenly, Marc tugged on her arm, pointing to the entrance of the trail, where they saw Daniel, Tyler and Bobby being led further onto the path by four men, who seemed to be trying to hide the fact that they were armed.  
Betty quickly text-ed Daniel and saw him jump slightly then look around to make sure he wasn't being watched. He pretended to pull a hamstring and fell behind a bit, waving the others on. The one man who stayed behind to watch him looked away as Marc threw a rock in his direction. Daniel quickly looked at his phone and smiled, then slid it back into his waistband again.  
"How did Daniel hide his phone, too? He doesn't have your hiding place, that's for sure, although he looks pretty good with no shirt, I'll give him that. So do the rest of our little boy group!"  
Betty smiled, "I know he always keeps a spare old blackberry in his back pocket for emergencies. He must have been about to slip it in his waistband quickly when they were having them empty pockets or something. You know Daniel and his phone! He can never be without it!"  
"What did you say to him?"  
"I told him to be prepared for the girls to come save them."  
"Is that all?"  
She blushed slightly, "I told him I love him."  
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Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Book 'em Dann-o! (pt 1 of 2)  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 35: "Book 'em, Danno!"  
A/N: This is going to be a two-part ending. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back into 'island Mode', sistahs! I've had my other stories too much on my mind and couldn't get back into the hang loose attitude I needed to finish this. I have the outline for the ending now, though, so I promise, since I have time off during the Christmas break, I'll be sure to wrap this one up. Here's the first part, hope you enjoy the aloha spirit!  
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After giving their location to the police, Betty and Marc started making their way up the rocky and slippery trail to Monoa Falls. Marc stopped frequently to use his inhaler and complain,  
"This is crazy, Betty! Who would climb all the way up this far, anyway? Who does this for…fun? I'm not a mountain climber, or a…goat! We have to stop and rest." He sat down on a rock, fussing at the dampness. "Why is everything so…wet?"  
Betty rolled her eyes and sighed, sitting down next to him and handing him a water bottle. "I don't know, Marc. Maybe because it's a 'rainforest'? We're almost to the top. Besides, look, tourists are doing it. It can't be that difficult." She pointed to the dozens of people, families, and elderly couples coming up and down around them.  
"Those are mostly Japanese people. They're in better shape than us fat Americans. Because of all the fish and rice they eat. And they exercise in school, instead of….watching television, I suppose! I don't know! I just know I'm going to collapse. This is torture. When are we going to get to the top?"  
"All I know is, Daniel and the guys are being forced up here, and until the police get here, I want to see where they are taking them. So, are you okay, now?"  
He nodded, taking a quick drink and another puff of his inhaler. "I suppose."  
"Just pretend it's Fashion Week. Hydrate, and head up!"  
"Please, dressed like this? I wouldn't be caught dead at Fashion Week in this getup! You still look better than you did your first time, though, I suppose. At least, you won't be attracting lightning with your mouth anymore."  
She shook her head, and rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Marc."  
Betty and Marc heard familiar voices behind them, "Betty? Is that you?"  
She turned around to see the young Hawaiian girl who had helped everyone find and rescue her from her terrifying ordeal in the wardrobe.  
She hugged her, "Kailani! And Heliki! What are you two doing here?"  
Heliki nodded towards his sister, "Ask her. She got one of her 'feelings' about you again, just as I got back from base and she…hello. I don't think we've met. I'm Heliki…" He started to introduce himself to Marc, but was surprised when the man was clearly overwhelmed.  
"Wow! You're like…a soldier!"  
"Marine, actually." He grinned, proudly. "We're way better than soldiers. Those are guys in the army. We're hotter, and in WAY better shape!" he teased. Betty didn't think she'd seen Heliki smile that big before. She KNEW she'd NEVER seen Marc smile so widely.  
Marc touched Heliki's arm, in awe, "Yeah! So I see… Semper Fi, hot stuff! Where have you been all my life, gorgeous?"  
Kailani rolled her eyes, "Okay, you two. If you're done ogling each other, let's get down to helping Daniel and the others. There is a small building on the other side of the falls.  
It's past the wire and signs warning tourists not to go any further, because of safety. It is a little unstable, but that's mainly just to keep people out from Tony Martin's hideout.  
There is a whole complex up here, actually. The FBI knows about it. Honolulu PD knows about it, too. They don't bother Tony, for the most part, though, because so far, they can't prove he's dirty. He's got a bunch of fancy lawyers his evil ways pay for to protect him.  
He's always careful not to actual do any of the dirty work himself and get himself nabbed for anything. He's the head kahuna, though. There's no doubt! I've wanted to see him get what's coming to him ever since he hurt the Pastor's sister! Not to mention…my…"she broke down.  
Her brother comforted her, "It's okay, sistah. We're gonna get him this time. The police are on their way.  
So, we just gotta keep the guys in sight until they get here. Tony's guys messed up by taking them against their will. Now we'll get them for kidnapping. Then, maybe we can get proof they were involved in Betty's kidnapping, too."  
"Not to mention, those girls who took them here are most likely being drugged and forced into prostitution. Just like they drugged me. I just hope some of them are able to remember enough and can testify."  
As they went back to their trek up the trail, Heliki commented, "I love hiking! It's so pretty in here. And it's really amazing once you look down and see how far you've come, you know!"  
Marc gushed, "Me, too! Hiking is one of my favorite things in the world. I was just telling Betty, it's like Fashion Week, hydrate and heads up!"  
Betty rolled her eyes and giggled, looking at Kailani, who smiled back at her, shaking her head.  
Betty saw Daniel ahead and heard his voice, "How much further is this place, anyway?"  
She could see him, and she wanted nothing more than to run up ahead and hug him, making sure he hadn't been hurt. But she knew she would just be endangering him or others if she did.  
She sent him a text and smiled as she saw his leg twitch slightly at the buzz of his phone. He waved the others on, and stopped, saying he had to tie his shoe, "Go on, guys, I'll catch up. I've just got a loose lace here. Wouldn't want to trip on these wet rocks!"  
He looked around, and when he read her text, "I'm bhind u. Lk th vu! B" his eyes got big and he looked back down the trail and saw her wave discreetly and flash her beautiful smile at him. He grinned back at her and gave a small nod, then turned back around, and shook his butt slightly, making her laugh.  
Marc shook his head, "Seriously, Betty, did you just tell Daniel he had a nice ass or something? Look at him now! He's walking like an idiot, trying to show it off to you. We don't have time for this foolishness!"  
"Excuse me, Marc! It's okay for you to flirt with Heliki, but I'm not allowed to tell Daniel he…that we're behind him?"  
"Is that all you said?" he raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes."  
"Chimi-changa! You know you are the WORST liar!"  
She blushed slightly, "Fine, I told him the view was nice, okay? Are you happy?"  
He laughed, "I wondered what got him shaking his tail feathers. I mean, Bobby walks like that normally. It's sort of his regular way of strutting, but usually, Daniel doesn't strut as much. Now Tyler…" he looked at everyone's expression at him. "Never mind."  
Betty hit him, "Come on, let's stay close enough to see all the guys' cute behinds, okay, weiner boy? You should like that!"  
"Betty!" he hissed, and gave her a warning look. She giggled,  
"Sorry, Marc. No worries, brah. You're secret's safe with me, Mr. St. James."  
Even with the rain, or perhaps because of it, the heat was sweltering inside the canopy of bamboo trees on the hike up to the falls. One by one, the men started peeling off their shirts. First, the men from Tony's group, then Tyler, Bobby, and finally, Daniel.  
Heliki took his off, as well, causing Marc to gasp and grin, his eyes wide. He kept his own on, however. Heliki smiled as Marc said meekly, "I burn easily! Fair skin." Heliki just nodded. "You should use kukui nut oil. It's great for that. I'll give you some when we get back home. Kailani makes this great lotion with it."  
"Thanks! I mean, Mahalo! That sounds uh…ono."  
After another twenty grueling minutes, Kailani was leading the way, and she pulled Betty up to the rock she was standing on, and pointed, "See, just behind that little jagged cliff, is the falls. That's as far as the sign says tourists are supposed to go.  
My bet is these guys come up here at five-thirty, cause the trail closes at sunset. They gotta wait till then, so nobody see wea they gonna go, past that sign and into the rainforest, up da hill another half mile wea Tony's place is."  
Heliki looked at his sister, "Kailani, how you know that? You came up here by yourself before? Or is it something you saw in one of your visions?"  
"Vision, of course, brah. I not so stupid to come hea by myself." Betty looked at her and could tell she was lying. She assumed her brother could, as well.  
They sat and waited, just out of sight of Daniel's group.  
Finally, as the sun began to set, Betty and her group saw the men ahead get up and start hiking further into the woods, past the falls, just as Kailani had predicted.  
"Where are the damn police?" Marc lamented, looking down at his shirt, sticky with sweat. "Why haven't they called us back?"  
"We not gonna get any kind of reception from hea on out. That one reason Tony choose this place. He know police gotta use walkies to talk to each uddah up hea and his people listen to all the frequencies, make sho nobody come get him. He one smart guy. I give him dat."  
"Do we even know the police got our bat signal? Maybe we should wait for them. If we follow those guys past the sign, who knows what we'll be walking into!"  
"As much as I hate to admit Marc's right; he has a point. I don't know for sure how much of my latest text Captain Sukki received. You said he knows Tony's compound is up here, though, right? So, this is where he's going to go? I thought the police didn't know where it was."  
She nodded, "He knows. At least, he knows this place is hea. There are other places Tony uses, too. He moves around, like dat Osama guy did, but…I gotta feeling he is hea. I feel his evil presence. He one bad guy. Brah got no mana, no spirit of aloha in him."  
She seemed to shiver from the bad 'vibes' she was getting. "It's not even just about the money, wif him. He one dose guys what enjoy seein other people suffer. He no care he ruin people's lives. It make him laugh to see good people cry."  
Betty put her hand on Kailani's shoulder, as did her brother, "It's okay, Kailani. This stops tonight! He's not going to continue to hurt good people anymore, I promise! Come on, let's keep moving!"  
They all carefully followed the men leading Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler further into the dense tropical forest. Marc was trying to look 'tough' for Heliki, but he was fighting himself having one of his 'hissy fits', Betty knew. She smiled, thinking when properly motivated by hot marines he was trying to impress, Marc could be a real trooper. Who knew?  
Suddenly, they all saw it. There was a large plateau that had been cleared and a good-sized building, surrounded by trees and plants that would likely be completely hidden from the air.  
"That's got to be it!" Heliki whispered as they stopped and crouched down, behind rocks and plants. They saw the men ahead head inside, with Bobby and Daniel looking at each other, and Tyler looking around to see if their rescue was coming anytime soon.  
"Poor Daniel! He looks scared!" Betty's heart went out to Daniel and the others. She wished she had an army with her. But all she had was a visionary local woman, one marine, and Marc. Hardly the 'troops' to carry out an all-out assault against the biggest underworld kingpin in the islands, the man who for over ten years had successfully evaded arrest, even though the police knew he was running drug and human trafficking operations between Hawaii and the mainland.  
The man who had caused untold pain and suffering to scores of individuals and their families. Good families, like Pastor Cardines and his sister, and like Kailani, and her daughter, Betty thought, sadly.  
Her own involvement may not have gone so deep, had Victoria not inadvertently hired one of the men who also worked 'free-lance' for Tony, Kavika. Betty knew for sure, she was going to seek out Marty's family in Africa and send them the money he was trying to get to them for their survival, along with a letter, telling them how he had saved her life, sacrificing his own in the process.  
Now, Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler were all at risk, too. Betty felt as if she had to find a way to get them all out of this, and put Tony Martin where he belonged, behind bars for all the suffering he had caused.  
She smiled, thinking of a way to get in. She whispered to Kailani, who nodded and smiled, "Might just work, sistah! Let's try!" She immediately took off her top and shorts, revealing a bikini and her lean, muscular body, Betty assumed she got from surfing. God, she really should try surfing, Betty thought to herself.  
Heliki and Marc's eyes widened. Her brother gave her a look, "Sis, what the heck you up to?"  
Betty sighed, and started stripping, glad she, too had been on Hawaii long enough to be wearing a bikini under her clothing. Marc looked at her strangely, "Where's all the fat? You mean all those layers were just ugly clothes all these years?"  
Betty shook her head, "Thanks, I THINK, Marc. From you, I suppose that's a compliment. But….I feel like I'm naked or something. I don't know if I can do this, Kailani."  
Kailani nodded, and pulled out two long scarfs from her backpack, "I feel you, sistah. I no like to walk around like this, either. Here we go." She handed Betty one, and showed her how to tie the scarf like a sarong, around her waist.  
Betty smiled, "Thanks! This is better."  
Kailina nodded towards Betty, "I think you look fine, sistah. Gotta itty bitty waist and good baby hips. Not to mention…"  
"Please, let's NOT mention Betty's uh…baby hips or her other huge girly parts, okay? I'm still wondering WHY all the nudity from the female section of our group? You two got jealous because all the men were taking off their shirts and you couldn't or what?"  
"Well, we could, but…" Betty smiled as Marc gagged at the concept.  
Kailani looked at Betty, "You wanna tell the guys, Betty? It's your brilliant plan."  
"I was just thinking, Tony's never seen me. Neither have these particular guys Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler are with. They don't know us, or that we were with them. So, you and Marc go in, pretending to be our uh…you know, managers and we'll get in there and see what's going on.  
You have lots of weapons, right, Heliki? We can arm ourselves and once we're in there, we can give a signal of some kind and arm the guys. That makes at least seven of us against them. What do you think?"  
"I think you're CRAZY!" Marc said at the same time Heliki said, "BRILLIANT!" Marc just nodded, and smiled at the marine, "Right, brilliant, Betty! Heliki and I are your pimps, apparently! Great! This is going to be so much fun! Yay, team!" he pretended to be excited, but it was apparent he was terrified.  
Betty patted him on the back. "It'll be fine, Marc. It'll all be over soon."  
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Chimi-changa! I'm too young and beautiful to die. And now, on the day I've finally met my one true love, you want to go and live out some secret fantasy of being a hooker and get us all killed! I hate you, sometimes, Betty Suarez! And this would definitely be one of those times! You and your hair-brained schemes!"  
As Heliki came closer, Marc changed his demeanor and grinned at Betty, patting her back, "Great idea, Betty! I love the idea of pretending to be a pimp! It'll be so much fun! You're such a great girl! Aloha, sistah, so much aloha…"  
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Chapter 36: Chapter 36  
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Just Another Day in Paradise  
Chapter 36-Mele Kalikimaka!  
A/N: This will be the final chapter in my little island tale, sistahs! I was toying with the idea of an epilogue (Bobby & Hilda's wedding-Aloha Style!), but I figured, why mess with success? Their actual wedding episode was one of my absolute favorites. So, Aloha nui loa and Mahalo for your kind comments! Hope you enjoy the final luau.  
"What you two doin here wif dem girls? Dey new? I nevah seen dem befo. I nevah seen you befo, eeddah! Bring em here, so Brah Tony can see em bettah."  
Marc 'showcased' Betty and Kailani, walking to Tony and his men, "We have these two new girls, gentlemen. Aren't they sexy? Just think of all the money you're going to make, charging all those tourists to uh have hot, hetero sex with these two!"  
Daniel, Bobby, and Tyler were standing on the other side of the room. Daniel's eyes bugged out when he saw Betty, dressed in her bikini with Kailani's sarong and saw Heliki and Marc, acting like they were Betty and Kailani's 'pimps'.  
Bobby and Tyler seemed somewhat amused at the little charade their friends were putting on, but Daniel was alarmed. He realized, looking at Tony, a very large man, who liked to play his ukulele, that this scenario was very much like his first 'vision' of Betty. Especially, since she and Kailani were dancing the hula, like in his dream, as well.  
Heliki was somewhat surprised that Marc's antics and the girls' flirting had gotten him inside the house without being patted down for weapons by Tony's three guards. They probably weren't nearly as concerned about security way up here, thinking they were secluded enough and difficult to get to so they could be a bit more lax. Just what a good marine liked to take advantage of, he thought, the element of surprise.  
He was waiting till the girls had all the men in the room's attention, which seemed to be going extremely well so far.  
Betty smiled, as she first danced around Tony, and his guards, then made her way in front of Daniel, winking at him. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head, wondering what in the world she was planning.  
She rubbed against him and he leaned over whispering, "What in the hell are you doing, Betty? Are you crazy, sweetie?"  
She merely smiled and turned around, grinding against him and dancing seductively. Tony laughed, "I tink sistah girl like you, Mistah! You want, you can go try huh out back dere in duh bedroom. She look like she gonna be a good one, but you can make sure she know what she doin.  
I gonna talk to you uddah friends hea and we see what kine deal we gonna make. Don't take too long, though. We all gotta talk story bout business, brah. So, go have your fun, den come back out hea, okay?"  
"Uh, sure. Okay, thanks, Mr. Martin."  
"I tell you, call me Brah Tony. If we do business togeddah, anyway."  
"Right. Uh, Mahalo, Brah Tony. I'll be…we'll, we won't be long. Come on, honey girl. Let's go…check you out." He led Betty to a bedroom in the back.  
Once they were alone, he crossed his arms, "Okay, hooker! Now do you want to let me know what in the world you're doing here and why you and Marc are pretending to be a hooker and her pimp? Geez, Betty! I knew you two were following us, but I thought you were just waiting till the cops got here. Whose crazy scheme was it for you to get involved?"  
She hugged him, and pulled him down for a passionate kiss, "I was so worried about you, Daniel! I was afraid he was going to kill you three. Are you okay?"  
He was moved by her concern and aroused by her kiss, "I'm fine, honey. I…we had a plan. We told him we were 'in the business' back on the East coast of the mainland and wanted to help him expand his operations. You should have heard all the crap Bobby was spouting to the guy.  
I didn't do too bad myself. But…hey, answer the question, you little Mata hari. I like the outfit, but I don't want you acting like a prostitute, Betty. What were you thinking?"  
"Heliki has guns with him. Kailani and I will distract Tony's guards and as soon as we have all the guys' attention, he's going to throw the guns to you three. So, when you see Kailani and I finish our hula and go to the floor, be ready to grab one of the guns, okay?"  
His eyes popped, "Did Heliki think of this plan? Me, with a gun? Hell, even Bobby's not really into guns, Betty. I guess, we can at least pretend we know what we're doing, though."  
She admitted, "It was my idea. I knew Heliki had extra weapons, since he's a sharpshooter in the marines. I figured he could pretty much take out all of Tony's men by himself, but with all of us armed, and at least pretending we know how to handle a gun, it would provide enough of a distraction for Heliki to uh…do his stuff, you know?"  
"I see. Oh, hey, hang on. We're supposed to be, you know, having fun back here, so…let me, mess you up a little, 'honey girl'." He smiled and messed up her hair as well as his own and tugged on his pants pocket, and grabbed her for a heated kiss.  
As he pulled away, she looked up, somewhat breathless, "Wow, now I know you CAN actually do 'quickies' if the need arises, Daniel!" She put her hands on his toned chest and smiled, "Too bad we don't have time to really enjoy ourselves, Mistuh! I could show you a REAL good time!"  
"Yeah, I bet you could, you naughty little girl. At least you know, you'll always have a fall-back profession, Betty. Listen, I'm going to…talk like an asshole out there, so don't take it personally, okay, sweetie? I love you. And respect you, but…"  
She nodded, "I know, you're going to treat me like a hooker out there. I can take it, big boy, if you can." She grabbed him just before he went to open the door back up.  
His eyes widened at her little maneuver. Tony looked at Betty and Daniel, "She look okay, den? Look like she show you a good time, brah. We got all kine girls from all over dah mainland, brah."  
"Yeah, she's pretty good. Nice big butt, great boobs. I'll take her with me, maybe, if you can spare one. I might want a little more time with this one." He put his hand on her backside. She squinted at him and shook her head. He seemed to be enjoying himself a bit too much with the hedonistic attitude, but she figured she had it coming, putting herself in this situation to begin with.  
Tony shrugged, "I don't know. She look like she bring in lots of money. But, uddah girl a local. I guess she more bettah for duh tourists Okay, Mistah Daniel. You got yourself a deal." He stuck out his hand to shake with Daniel, then pulled him close and his voice became somewhat threatening,  
"We need ta see some real money first. Then we do this. I been wantin more business from da East Coast for long time now. We have a little luau tonight, and you gonna bring me dah cash tomorrow, right?"  
Daniel nodded, "Absolutely!"  
"Well, when I find out you big time guy in New York, make lotta money wif yo're family's publishin stuff, I know you fo real!"  
"Yeah, but you know, with the economy the way it is, I figure, Meade Publications should diversify. My dad always told me not to be afraid to invest wisely."  
Tony nodded, and smiled, and picked up his ukulele, and nodded to his three guards, who clapped for Betty and Kailani, "You two gonna do another hula for us, ladies? Dat was nice! Loki, bring in some food!"  
As Loki left the room, and Tony began playing, Betty and Kailani started dancing again. The men were all watching intently. Betty tried her best to follow Kailani and remember the brief hula lessons she had learned when she, Amanda, and Hilda had first arrived on the island.  
Kailani moved seductively around to the men, especially Tony's guards, putting her hand on their faces, and moving her hands swiftly, swaying back and forth with her hips. She watched Betty, who was doing surprisingly well for a haole, she thought. The girl picked up some of the nuances of doing a hula very quickly and was doing her part in distracting the three men.  
There was the factor of Tony possibly having a concealed weapon and the fact that Loki had not yet returned from the kitchen, but Betty was watching and copying Kailani's moves, so she knew it was up to her to signal her brother.  
She met Betty's eyes and called out a chant as she suddenly dropped to the ground, dramatically, and Betty mimicked her in doing so. Heliki called out, "Bobby, Tyler, Daniel, heads up, guys!" He quickly retrieved the three small handguns he had in the pockets of his military shorts and drew his own weapon, as well.  
Kailani scrambled to stand behind Tyler, Betty got behind Daniel and Marc started to stand behind Heliki, but he shook his head and told him, "Get behind Bobby" and in a flash, he stood behind Tony, before the large man had a chance to draw his own weapon, under his chair. He pointed his own gun to Tony's head, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you, Brah! Kick your weapon over to Daniel. NOW! Do it!"  
Tony hissed, and kicked his gun towards Daniel and Betty grabbed it, trying not to hyperventilate at the surging adrenaline coursing through her veins right now. She held up the gun, watching for Loki as he came back through the kitchen, unaware of what had just occurred. "Drop the food!" She yelled at him and came behind him, trying not to let him see her hands were shaking, "Go, sit on that chair!"  
Daniel could tell she was scared to death, even though she was trying to sound tough. He walked to the man and took a computer cable and used it to tie Loki's hands to the chair, then pulled Betty gently away, "It's okay, sweetie."  
Tony snorted, "You guys bettah have a good lawyer, brahs! I OWN all duh islands. Nobody gonna put Tony in jail hea!"  
Kailani walked up to him, and spit in his face, pulling out a slim cell phone from her cleavage and holding it up, "I got you on tape telling Daniel your little scheme, BRAH Tony! Let's see you try and weasel your way outta dis one, dis time! You gonna pay for what you do to girls all these years! For everything you do, mess up kids wif drugs, grab girls and drug them, then make em be your whores! All of it! You gonna pay, MIstah!"  
"Get this crazy bitch outta my face!" Tony started to grab Kailani, but Heliki put his hand on Tony, pushing him back down hard, and said, menacingly, "You don't get to talk to my sister like that, you trash! Shut up!"  
Marc took a frying pan that Loki had dropped and hit Tony over the head with it, "Yeah, Mister, Shut up! You don't talk to ladies like that!"  
They heard a loud bullhorn outside and the police came crashing through the door, and arrested Tony and his men.  
As Captain Sukki and his men led them away, he turned to Daniel and Betty and shook their hand, "I don't know how to thank you and your friends, Miss Suarez, Mr. Meade! We've been trying to put this guy away for a very long time. Mahalo!"  
Kailani handed him her cell phone, "I got all you're gonna need in the way of a confession on here, Captain. This is for all the people he hurt. Don't let him get away, this time, okay?"  
The captain put his hand on Kailani's and nodded, his eyes moist, "I promise, Kailani! This time, he's going to get what's coming to him. Mahalo, sistah!" He nodded to her.  
The police offered the group a helicopter ride, so they wouldn't have to climb back down the trail.  
Once they got in the police car, headed back to the hotel, Daniel put his arm around Betty, pulling her towards him, "You one lolo wahine, you know that, honey girl?"  
She shook her head, "Oh, Daniel, don't try pidgin, honey. You're way too big a haole to pull it off. But, wait, you think I'm crazy? I'm not the one who tried to pretend I was some big East Coast drug and prostitute ring leader, Daniel. I was just trying to do what I always do and clean up your messes! Why didn't you do what you said you were going to do and find out where Tony's hideout was then just walk away like you promised Captain Sukki?"  
"Because, Bobby started making up some load of crap, trying to find out where Tony's place was and I just elaborated a little and before we knew it, those guys told us they had talked to Tony and he wanted to meet us in person. So, we didn't know what else to do. I managed to keep my cell without them noticing, so I was hoping it was sending a signal to the cops. Then when I got your text and saw you and Marc were following us up the trail, I knew you would have told Captain Sukki where we were."  
"Kailani said the police have known about his hideout, really, but were never able to get him actually when he was there, and even if he was, he always managed to get out of any specific lesser charges they could file against him. He's been really careful and hired crooked lawyers. But, this time…"  
"Yeah, you did a great job, sweetie. I know once you finish up your story, you're going to get calls from The New York Review or any place you want to work! I'm really proud of you. But, please promise me, in the future, you'll be way more careful? I don't want to have to call out my little private Mode Mod Squad team to come rescue you again, okay? Although, you do make a really hot little hooker, I must say. So, do I get to 'finish' my inspection when we get back to the hotel?"  
She rolled her eyes, and hit his arm, "Don't think I'm going to forget that big butt remark, Daniel! You think my butt's too big, don't you?"  
He smiled, "Hey, I never said I didn't LIKE big butts, Betty. I mean, I could 'rap' it for you, if you like."  
She laughed, "No thanks, brah! I'll take your word for it."  
He whispered, "Oh, no, I think I'm going to have to SHOW you how much I like all of you, Betty! I really liked your little hula dance, too. Can I please get a private dance?"  
"Maybe. If you promise we can go home right after Hilda and Bobby's wedding."  
"Of course. I'm sort of surprised my mom hasn't called to tell me Wilhelmina did something crazy while I've been gone so far. Getting rock fever?"  
She shrugged, "A little. I do miss my papi, but I know he's coming here for the wedding. Mainly I just miss New York."  
They said good night to their friends, and everyone headed off to get some much needed rest.  
When Daniel came out of the bathroom, wearing his boxers, he found Betty on the lanai, looking out across the ocean. He put his arms around her from behind, and kissed her neck, and asked in his low, gravelly voice, "As much as I miss New York, too, I have to admit, this place has really grown on me, Betty."  
She nodded, her eyes slightly moist, "I think part of me is afraid to go back home. Afraid you'll forget all about me. That you and I being together has just been a dream. Nothing about being here has seemed real to me."  
He kissed below her ear, "It's real, Betty. I love you, and it doesn't matter if we're here in Hawaii, back in New York, or in Timbuktu, that's never going to change, babe. I can't believe I came here, thinking I had already lost you and I would never get the chance to tell you how much I love you, how much I think in some way, I've always loved you.  
The night we found you, I felt like I had been given a second chance. I'm never going to take anything about having you with me for granted, ever again, I promise. Getting you back, after I thought I lost you forever was a miracle. One I'm never going to stop being grateful for, ever." He kissed her neck and turned her in his arms, pulling her up for a sweet, intense kiss.  
She smiled, and put her hand on his cheek, "Thank you for coming to my rescue. You're my hero. I love you, so much, Daniel. I'm never going to take your love for granted, either. I've always been Daniel's girl and I always will be."


End file.
